The Block Party’s Good: Michael Block's Impressive First Round at Aronimink

It was about 6 p.m., a crisp spring evening was upon us and he knew his second-round tee time was a little more than 12 hours away (6:45 a.m. Friday), but with a smile on his face he proclaimed, “The Block Party’s good.”

Indeed, Michael Block, the 49-year-old PGA of America Golf Professional whose hole-in-one and T-15 finish at Oak Hill CC in Rochester, N.Y., ignited a storm of enthusiasm at the PGA Championship, has designs of possibly repeating that script.

“I did the same thing in ’23, even par in Round 1,” said Block after posting level-par 70. He talked of doing that again Friday, which would get him into the weekend where warmer weather is forecast. Good news for his body and thus did Block, who is making his eighth PGA Championship appearance, reveal his strategy.

“Play my game, don’t be an idiot, stay below the hole.”