Michael Block’s PGA Tour Champions debut in June ended in a 54th-hole disaster at the Dick’s Open, when he made a triple bogey to finish T9. Afterward, Block, who played the event on a sponsor’s invite, said he was frustrated with his finish not only because it took him out of title contention, but because it made his overall goal less attainable.
“That cost me a lot of points, a lot of money, a lot of everything, which is very frustrating. I’m just here trying to make my way possibly onto this tour and that hurt a lot,” Block said.
As a non-member, Block needed to make seven starts in order for his earnings to become official and make him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions postseason and membership on the senior circuit. This week, at the Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic, Block is making his seventh start, meaning that as long as he finishes Sunday’s final round, he’ll be eligible for the postseason. The $326,486 Block has made in six starts would already be good enough to put him well inside the top 72 cutoff for the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.
“It’s spiraling upwards, which is good,” Block said of his PGA Tour Champions career path on Saturday. “Having a great time. My biggest prerogative right now is to enjoy it. And to be honest, no one says this while they’re playing, but I say, ‘Commit, have fun, enjoy the moment.’ I say it out loud because I really need to. These guys have done this their whole life, so it’s like their office. This is not my office. My office is doing payroll and inventory. This is not my office. So I’m trying to learn the way, but I need to say it out loud.”
But while Block has already checked off one senior tour goal, he has another in sight on Sunday in Allentown, Pa. After shooting a bogey-free 63 in Saturday’s second round, Block will enter Sunday with a one-shot lead over Stephen Alker.
“To be out here and leading again in one of these events is amazing,” Block said. “I just hope I’ve learned from what happened before. Going into tomorrow, I have no idea who I’m playing with, but I hope it’s a couple of my boys and we’ll have a good time. That’s it.”
“What happened before” is that Block led on the back nine at the Ally Challenge, but Alker made a flurry of birdies down the stretch to take the title while Block stumbled to a T3 finish. It will be Block and Alker again on Sunday. But Block is confident that he can avoid a repeat of what happened at the Ally.
“Just keep being you,” Block said about what he learned from his loss to Alker. “Like don’t try to be the quiet Michael. Quiet Michael doesn’t work. Michael having fun works. Michael being quiet, Michael trying to be somebody he’s not, doesn’t work. That’s what I’m going to do tomorrow.”
Three years ago, Block burst onto the scene at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Now, the club pro from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club is headed to the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs after just seven starts.
“I really didn’t think it was a possibility with such a short season left [after turning 50 on June 15] that I could make the playoffs, but that was my goal – and now it’s going to happen. It’s unbelievable,” Block told The Orange County Register’s Randy Youngman earlier this week.
And he might arrive there with a win already under his belt if he can hold off Alker and the rest of the challengers on Sunday.
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