“It didn’t go in, did it?” asked Michael Black as he was perplexed by the loud cheer after he scored an ace. “Straight in the hole,” cheered Rory McIlroy, his final round partner. “No way. Rory, did it go in?” Black asked again as he still couldn’t believe it. The crowd around him was so loud that the mic could barely catch their dialogue. “It sure did something,” said one of the commentators before the PGA Tour pro realized that he had just scored a hole-in-one. As he stood still on his way to the green, shocked about what he had just done, the commentator added, “He still doesn’t believe it.” The scenes at the Oak Hill Country Club were wild. He may not have won the tournament, but the Nevada citizen was certainly in the headlines for one of the most outstanding tee shots in the major. You would think that Black would have an outstanding career on the PGA Tour after that. But that was not the case.

It took Michael Block 32 matches to realize it was the end. He was tied with Tyrrell Hatton and sitting in front of Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa in the 2023 PGA Championship. At T15, he earned a $288,333.33 paycheck. For anyone else, that would have been a great start. But for a 46-year-old Block, he had already had enough.

Later that year, Block joined the crew of The First Cut Podcast back in 2023 for an honest outtake on what was going through his mind back then. Much wiser, and having accepted the circumstances, he shared how he was just never good enough to compete with the best. A clip of the same was shared by NUCLR Golf with a caption, “🚨🧱🎉 Michael Block reflects on his performance at the 2023 PGA Championship & why he’s not on the PGA TOUR: ‘I don’t want to have my A+ game and still finish 15th. If I have my A+ game vs. club professionals, I’m going to win.'” As he mentioned, his best game was not enough to push him above the 15th position on the leaderboard.

During the interview, he said, “I rolled the rock better than I ever rolled in my life. I hit short game shots I never hit in my life. I hit my irons great. I hit the driver down the fairway, and I struggled to finish 15th. That’s how good these guys on the Tour are. Fourteen guys still beat me, and I brought my A+ game all the rounds. So, that’s why I’m not on the PGA Tour. I don’t wanna be that guy. I don’t want to have my A+ game and still finish 15th. If I have my A+ game vs. club professionals, I’m going to win.” In hindsight, Block had an outstanding run at the 2023 PGA Championship. He was ranked 6th in strokes gained through putting, had the second-best driving accuracy, 13th in scrambling, and 8th in putts per greens he hit in regulation.

However, his round 4 playing partner, Rory McIlroy, outdrove him. The Irishman was better in his approach shots and ranked higher in overall strokes gained. Block took the spotlight with a 15th-hole ace in the final round. But his overall performance in the tournament was not enough to encourage him to keep going. Another 7 events in, including a missed cut at the 2024 PGA Championship, and the Reno local called it quits from the PGA Tour.

However, the latest report has also revealed that Block is making a comeback. The latest tweet from NUCLR Golf confirms “🚨🧱🎉 #THE BLOCK PARTY CONTINUES — 2023 PGA Championship legend Michael Block fired a final round 73 and finished -4 in the PGA Professional Championship, qualifying for the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.” Yes, you’ve read that right. Block will be a part of the field at Quail Hollow in a couple of weeks.

How did he do that? Well, he took a unique path playing against club professionals, as he had mentioned in his interview a couple of years ago.

The Michael Block ‘party’ takes a wild turn

Michael Block may not have been seen in PGA Tour events recently, but he was still involved with the PGA of America. His most recent appearance came at the 2025 PGA Professional Championship. It was an authorized event that provided golfers a gateway to qualify for the upcoming major championship at Quail Hollow. Played from April 27 to 30, the 2025 PGA Professional Championship was won by Tyler Collet. Collet beat the field by 10 strokes to win the title and a $66k paycheck.

Despite the 11-stroke deficit between Collet and himself, Block also finished at the top end of the leaderboard. He managed a 4-under par 283 to end at T3. Finishing in the top 20 and ties of the PGA Professional Championship qualifies the golfers for the major at Quail Hollow. This means that Collet, Block, and 21 other golfers have booked their place in the 2025 PGA Championship. With Rory McIlroy in hot form this season, it would be interesting to see if the PGA Tour pairs him with Michael Black again. It would be an interesting group to follow, don’t you think?