'The Last 12 Months Have Been A Dream' - Michael Block Gears Up For PGA Championship Return After Oak Hill Heroics

Michael Block pauses and takes a sip of his drink before he tries to sum up his experiences over the past 12 months. 

"The most surreal year of any club professional to ever live in the history of golf," he eventually says.

It may sound hyperbolic but it's undeniably true. After a captivating run at last year's PGA Championship, which saw the head golf professional at Arroyo Trabuco contend at Oak Hill and ultimately finish T15, Block's world was turned upside down. 

From PGA Tour sponsor invites to charity invitationals and pro-am appearances alongside the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, the unassuming 47-year-old has experienced it all.

"The last 12 months have been a dream," he says, speaking to Golf Monthly ahead of his return at this year's PGA Championship. "I've been places and played golf with people I’d never have dreamed of.

"I’m 48 years old next month and I’ve been able to enjoy every moment of it. If this had happened to me when I was 26, I would have treated it so differently. I'd have kidded myself into thinking I'm going to go on Tour and do this all the time.

"At this age, I realise it for what it is. I’ve just gone with it and said yes to everything -  I’m going to enjoy it for however long it lasts."

In amongst it all, Block has, at times, been the target of social media's unrelenting ire, in part his own doing but largely what amounted to a thinly-veiled jealousy for a man living out his dream.

But now, as his story comes full circle this week at Valhalla, the course on which he made his maiden PGA Championship start back in 2014, the Californian is hopeful for a warm embrace from the local crowds.

"Social media is a whole bunch of crap," he says. "I wish I didn’t have to use it and at the beginning, it hurt me to see the things people said about me. But now I just feel really bad for those people.

"I just try to make as many people play golf and love the game as much as I do and hopefully we can inspire some more people out in Louisville this week."

Block, though, is realistic about his chances. He has made the cut at just one event since last year's Oak Hill heroics - a T27 finish at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open - but is leaning on his memories from Rochester as well as his love for Valhalla, where he holds a share of the course record, as he attempts to upset the odds once again. 

"One of the most important things you can do in golf when you’re over a shot - and it’s a shot you’ve had before - is to think back to the best shot you've ever hit under that circumstance," he says.

"So I’m definitely going to take the feedback and the experience that I had at Oak Hill into Valhalla. Am I expecting the same results - no absolutely not. Would I love to make the cut and just have a good time? Yes, and that’s the goal.

"I love Valhalla - it fits my eye and I can see the reads on the greens which is a massive bonus. I love the city of Louisville and I'm playing good golf so a lot of things are aligning. You never know."

If he can't recreate the magic from last year, then perhaps one of the other club professionals in this week's 156-man field can. Having competed in the PGA Professional Championship earlier in May, which rewarded the top 20 with a spot at Valhalla, Blocked earmarked Wyoming club pro Ben Polland - winner of the event - as one to watch out for this week.

"I’ve known Ben for a long time - he’s a stellar golfer, got a great swing and way better than I am so who knows," he ends. 

"Whoever it is, I really hope that one of the 20 of us goes on to do something special. I've lived a dream this past year and I'd love for one of them to get that opportunity too."