At the PGA Championship, Michael Block was arguably the hero of the hour, with the club professional making a hole-in-one and finishing in a tie for 15th around the difficult Oak Hill layout.
Earning an invitation to the Charles Schwab Challenge following his success, Block couldn't replicate his game at last week's Major, with the American firing 81-74 to miss the cut in Texas and finish dead last.
"I'm not going to let it all out until I get probably in the -- when I get to my house and I'm sitting in the backyard -- no, I can't talk about this stuff right now," stated Block following his round. "My black lab, Messy, he's waiting for me. I haven't seen him in almost two weeks, and I can't wait to get home and throw the ball with him.
"I had no idea that people would like me here, and they did, and it was cool. Yeah, the people in Fort Worth, Texas, everywhere around here, they all came out. I made sure to say hi to every volunteer here, and somehow they knew me, which was insane to me. The players are amazing about it, and the volunteers, the members here, the people at Colonial were first class all the way around, 100 percent."
Following a first round 81, which saw Block break down in tears, the 46-year-old did improve his score by seven on Friday, as two birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys meant a four-over-par round of 74 and a missed cut by 14 shots. In typical Block fashion though, he stayed around for over two hours following his second round, signing autographs and items for the onlooking fans in attendance.
However, there's no denying that Block has enjoyed an incredible fortnight, especially given he booked a flight home for Saturday afternoon at last week's PGA Championship!
"I have no legs. I was scheduled to fly out at 10:00am last Saturday. So if that gives you any confidence on how much I had of making the cut at the PGA Championship. My whole family, everybody, everyone that even came out to watch me last weekend was scheduled to go out on Saturday. So to say the least, for me to finish 15th and make the cut and be there on Sunday and for whatever happened happened is insane because we were all going home Saturday morning, and that didn't happen obviously. Life changed a little bit since then, and I've enjoyed every single moment.
"Appreciation for everybody is beyond for me. I appreciate everybody that's shown their support. The people here, the pros here, the members here, the volunteers here, and the fans have been amazing. I thought I was just going to hit a chord with like 40-year-old -- what do they call it? Dad bods. I thought I was going to hit a chord with the dad bods, which I think I did, but I think I hit a chord with all the other ones too, which is really, really cool. I met a lot of young people and old people and middle-aged people and whatever else. It's my appreciation to them all. I just want to say thank you."
