Michael Block has officially brought the Block Party to Aronimink.
The 49-year-old PGA Head Golf Professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, Calif., signed for an even-par 70 in the first round of the 108th PGA Championship on Thursday that had him just three shots off the clubhouse lead.
“Great round,” Block said. “Paired with D.J. and Rasmus, two absolute bombers. The big thing at the beginning of the day was -- and I told Ethan, my son, who's caddying for me. I said, ‘Do not try to hang with them. We're just going to play our own game.’
“Bunt it down the fairway. Main thing was get it in the fairway, put it in a spot, on the green or even off the green that would give us an opportunity to still make a par. And be very just -- kind of dissect Aronimink, to be honest, which is what we did today. I dissected it to a 70 -- I shot 70 today? That's kind of cool. Yeah, had a great time. Everyone out there in Philly was very supportive. A lot of great people. Everyone in my group was great. Ethan, my caddie, and my son, killed it. We're very happy with the end result.”
Block battled the wind on the front nine – his inward nine. He was 1 under when he reached the par-4 fourth hole but made bogey to drop back to even. He bounced right back with birdie at the par-3 fifth hole – a 20-footer – for his fourth and final birdie of the day.
Block would bogey the par-3 eighth hole but saved par on No. 9 for the even-par round.
Thursday’s round was something special. Block immediately made noise on his opening hole – the par-4 10th – when his approach from 201 yards out settled 2 feet from the hole and he made birdie.
A poor tee shot at the par-4 12th hole led to some tree trouble and he would walk off that green with a double bogey. But Block bounced right back with a birdie on 13, canning a 15-footer.
He jarred a 17-footer at the par-5 16th and made the turn in 1-under 34.
“I have zero to lose,” Block said. “I'm about to be 50. I can see my wife and my kid up on the hill there right now, and my boss, they support me 100 percent. There's zero losing this week. They don't expect me to play well. They hope I play well, and they know I could play well, but I could get last place, and I'm still going to be loved and have a great job and everything else, and that's perfectly fine with me.”
Block, winner of the 2014 PGA Professional Championship, is making his eighth PGA Championship appearance – more than any of the other 19 PGA Professionals in the field – and his fifth in a row.
He became a household name in golf circles after an amazing run at Oak Hill in the 2023 PGA Championship where he finished tied for 15th, which included a final-round ace on the 151-yard, par-3 15th.
That finish at Oak Hill was Block’s only cut made in his PGA Championship career. Today’s score of 70 matches his best opening round – and score – in the championship. He had three straight rounds of 70 at Oak Hill before Sunday’s 71.
