McIlroy tells amazing Michael Block story from PGA
Back at the PGA Championship in May, Rory McIlroy had a VIP ticket to the Block Party.
He has quite the story to tell from it, too.
McIlroy played alongside club pro Michael Block during Sunday’s final round at Oak Hill, and he was on hand to witness Block’s incredible up-and-down from the crowd at the final hole to secure his place inside the top 15 and earn a return trip to next year’s PGA.
Block had just gotten up and down from a cross bunker some 70 yards out on the previous hole, so McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, were already impressed with what Block could do from around the greens when he missed a left pin left with his approach shot at the par-4 18th hole.
“He was down in the crowd, blind shot, and I’m like, ‘There’s no way this guy is getting this thing up and down, like no way,” McIlroy recalled during a recent appearance on Golf.com’s Subpar Podcast. “And he hits this shot that lands in the rough between the bunker and the green and trundles down to 6 feet.”
But the story isn’t over, as McIlroy says, “This just speaks to how confident he is in his short game.”
With Block’s caddie still escaping from the crowd, Block marked his ball and handed it to Diamond to clean for him.
McIlroy continues: “Harry asks Blockie, ‘Is you short game usually this good?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s usually better.’ How much confidence is that?!”
Of course, Block later, in one of dozens of post-PGA interviews, would say, “What I would shoot from where Rory hits it would be stupid. I think I’d be one of the best players in the world.”
To which McIlroy now responds, “No disrespect for Blockie. He has an unbelievable short game, he does … but I find that hard to believe.”
“Look, has he made some statements afterwards that I probably disagree with? Absolutely,” McIlroy added. “But again, whenever you’re getting asked a million questions from a million people it’s so hard to not say something, geez, I’ve certainly regretted things I’ve said or answers I’ve given to certain questions, and Blockie is probably feeling the same way at some point. But it still doesn’t take anything away from what a cool story in golf that that’s been this year.”