“The new hero of golf”: Michael Block breaks the internet with a spectacular hole-in-one shot at the PGA Championship

Michael Block made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole of the fourth round of the 2023 PGA Championship. The American golfer made the first hole-in-one of the entire tournament and continues to perform excellently so far.

The play came when Michael Block got a 151-yard swing that took the ball directly to the hole, which is a par 3. With it, he got an Eagle that keeps him in T14, playing for par and eight strokes behind the leader, Brooks Koepka.

With a tee speed of 118 mph, the ball went straight to the hole without rolling on the green, which makes the play even more remarkable.

Block has had a great performance during the PGA Championship, achieving, for the moment, a performance far superior to what was predicted, considering that this is a golfer who, at 46 years of age, is not a member of the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour.

Precisely for that reason, he has earned the sympathy of the public present at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club. The golfer himself has even said that the fans present have treated him as if he were at home.

Michael Block's golf career

Michael Block played college golf at Mississippi State and Missouri-St. Louis universities. After graduating, he attended the San Diego Golf Academy. There, he received a degree in golf course management.

He has worked in the field of golf course management since then. He currently works at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

Michael Block watching the path of the ball that ended as a hole-in-one. 2023 PGA Championship - Final Round (Image via Getty).

As a player, he has been a member of the PGA America since 2012. His results have led him to be Southern California PGA Player of the Year nine times in the last 10 years (2013-16 and 2018-22). He has won the California State Open and the PGA of Southern California Championship three times.

Michael Block has been to 24 PGA Tour tournaments. He made the cut in four of them and his best finish is a T69 at the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship. In the current season, before the PGA Championship, he participated in the American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open. He wasn't able to make the cut in either tournament.

Block earned his qualification to the PGA Championship by placing T2 at the PGA Professional Championship. He remained one of the members of the so-called Corebridge Financial PGA Team. He is, by far, the best-performing member of that group so far.