Two years ago at the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, club pro Michael Block became a cult hero by finishing T15 and dunking an ace while paired up with Rory McIlroy.
Safe to say a lot has changed since then. For one, Block seems to have faded from much of the public consciousness. For another, his game seems to have stayed back in Tulsa. While competing at the PGA Championship in Quail Hollow this week, Block posted a truly dismal 15-over par to miss the cut — the fifth-worst score through two days.
Bad tournaments happen. Golf is a very strange sport, after all. But it was Block’s explanation for his poor play that has golf fans raising their eyebrows.
“I love crowds,” Block told GOLF.com after missing the cut by 14 strokes. “That’s kind of the funny part is I wish there was a huge crowd on every hole because that’s when I hit my shots. I really do. I always do. It’s the weirdest thing. When there’s no one around is when I hit my worst shots. That’s something that I need more in my life is a bigger crowd. I just need to play a little better so it could happen. I could only imagine what would have happened if I would have been playing really good this week.”
This is, of course, nonsense.
Block completely imploded with an 82 on Friday that featured seven bogeys or worse over an eight hole stretch. The fact he was paired up with players like Erik van Rooyen and Mackenzie Hughes (instead of McIlroy or other big names) may have impacted the amount of fans following him around the course, but the simple fact is the fans would’ve shown up for Block if he played better. To argue the lack of fans threw off his game is rather childish.
A few other pros seemed to agree.
Fans surely wanted to see Block succeed again at the major, but his disappointing weekend is in no way their fault.
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