Michael Block gets a brutal reality check at the Charles Schwab Challenge

The opening day of the Charles Schwab Challenge gave Michael Block a tough return to his golfing reality. The pro, spoiled by the fans in the last PGA Championship, thanks to his novel performance, closed his day in Fort North with a +11 that sent him straight to the bottom of the leaderboard.

Block never found his pace at the Texan Colonial Country Club and signed a round to forget, with seven bogeys and three double bogeys. It could have been worse had he not saved a couple of strokes by making birdies on the fourth and ninth holes.

Michael Block wasn't in his best shape on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge (Image via Getty).

Of course, Michael Block could improve his game a lot on Friday and put this horrible first day behind him. However, with 68 golfers performing for par or better in the first round, it is likely impossible for the Californian to make the cut and come close to redoing what he did in Rochester.

During the day, what he himself said about his lack of range with his long swings became evident. His longest drive was 317 yards (within the average of the round), but his driving accuracy (50%) slowed him down quite a bit.

However, it was the work on the green (where, in his own words, he is strongest) that drove his performance into the abyss. His stroke gained (SG) around the green was -4.194, ranking him 120th (i.e., last) among all participating golfers. His putting was no better, as his SG in this section was 116th of the round.

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Michael Block saving from the bridge

Despite his negative score on this first day, Michael Block's performance at the Charles Schwab Challenge was not without spectacular moments. The most remarkable was his saving from a bridge at the right end of the fairway.

The play occurred when Block teed off on the 10th hole and sent the ball 277 yards to the right of the fairway, directly into a bridge located there for the passage of spectators and players over the water hazard.

Block chose to hit the ball from there and, against every odd, sent it over the trees directly into the fairway, leaving it just 47 feet from the hole. Two strokes later, he saved one of the only six pars he managed to make on the day.

English Harry Hall leads the tournament with an astonishing round of 8-under 62, just one stroke off the record for a round at Colonial Country Club. He managed to perform a bogey-free day, achieving eight birdies.

Second place is Harris English with -5, while Tom Hoge, Adam Schenk, Robby Shelton and Andrew Putnam are T3 at -4. Defending champion Sam Burns is in a strong position (T7) with -3.