The PGA Championship Had An All-Time Feel Good Sports Storyline

This weekend, the PGA Tour turned to Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, for the 2^nd major of the 2023 golf season. The PGA Championship is always a high-stakes, high-pressure event, and honestly, golf fans have been spoiled with the past couple of editions of the tournament. There have been great storylines the past couple of years in the PGA Championship with Phil Mickelson’s miraculous turn-back-the-clock performance at Kiawah in 2021 and Justin Thomas’ unbelievable comeback in 2022 at Southern Hills, but this year’s tournament might take the cake for most improbable occurrence. Oh, and it wasn’t from Brooks Koepka, who ended up winning the tournament.

This year’s magic came courtesy of the man who finished tied for 15^th at +1. His name is Michael Block, and he is a 46-year-old club pro at a public golf course in California. He’s played in a handful of tour events in the past but has never made as much noise as he did at Oak Hill this week. Under brutal course conditions that humbled some of the world’s best golfers, Block, who qualified for the event by finishing T2 in the 2023 PGA Professional Championship, seemed unphased compared to his incredibly talented peers. He started his weekend with 3 rounds of even par, which set him up to not only make the cut at a major event but also paired him with Rory McIlroy on the final day of the tournament. Just take a look at Block’s reaction when he found out he would be playing with Rory:

It's easy to see how everyone fell in love with rooting for this guy. It was already special to see what Block had done to even get a chance to be paired with McIlroy on Sunday at a major, but his story was nowhere near done for the weekend. It wasn’t Block’s cleanest round of the tournament, but on the par 3 15^th, he hit the shot of his life, knocking down a dunked hole-in-one. It was a one-in-a-million shot in a one-in-a-trillion moment, and you couldn’t feel any better for the guy… right?

Wrong again. Winning the crowd at Oak Hill over, playing great golf in a major, getting paired with Rory on a Sunday, and dunking a hole-in-one. Move them all over. Block had one more goal in his sight. He wasn’t in contention to win, but he walked to the 18^th tee box needing a par to finish in the top 15, an accomplishment that would automatically qualify him for the 2024 PGA Championship. His approach shot was a rough one, and he left himself a very tricky up and down to save that par. After a beautiful chip that left him about a 7-foot putt, Block was able to get a dramatic roll on his final stroke of the tournament to secure par and an automatic qualification. It was emotional, it was Hollywood, it was downright unbelievable, but it happened. So, kudos to Block, and hopefully this is not the last we hear from the club pro turned golf sensation.

Get excited South Jersey, a brand new state of the art golf course is coming, all thanks to a Major League Baseball Superstar and Tiger Woods! He grew up and still lives in Millville in the off-season so that's why it's here.

The brand new golf course in Vineland will be designed by Tiger Woods' golf course architecture firm, TGR Design, which will clearly add a much higher profile to the new golf course. No word on if Tiger is going to show up to christen it, but regardless, it's still pretty cool.

The Tri-State Area is very familiar with very fancy and exclusive golf courses. In fact, one of the most expensive and exclusive golf courses in the entire country is also in South Jersey. Pine Valley is so old that it just removed all of it's gender restrictions in 2021! Pine Valley secured the number one ranking in Golf Digest's biennial America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses 2019–20 and 2021-22. There are about 930 members spread throughout the world, and the list is a closely guarded secret. A few years ago a caller told me that his uncle used to be a security guard at Pine Valley. He said these super rich and famous people would fly their helicopters in to play.

Golf in general has become super popular for famous athletes of other sports so this new partnership doesn't seem to far fetched. I remember when he signed his new contract with the Los Angles Angels for $450 Million, I said, he could literally buy Millville with that money. Obviously he didn't buy the city, but building his new golf course is definitely a start. Maybe he can help fix the Cumberland Mall next!

He might not be on the Phillies, but he's good friends with Bryce Harper.

[Source: nbcphiladelphia.com]

Aka Preston from Preston and Steve on 993WMMR

He's working in Cobbs Creek to help inner city kids get access to golf.

Love that the Trout's live in Millville still.

With Big Papi at the World Baseball Championships!

Mike Trout who was born in Cumberland County, announced Monday he's building a brand-new golf course and club called named "Trout National - The Reserve" in Vineland. The course and club are expected to break ground this year and be open by 2025, according to a release.

The course will be designed by Tiger Woods' golf course architecture firm, TGR Design, adding a little more name recognition to the project.

"I'm so excited to finally officially announce that we’re doing this project, and doing it in a community that means so much to me," Trout said Monday in a release. "I was born in Vineland and raised in Millville. I met my wife, Jessica, in Millville, and my parents and siblings and in-laws still live in the area. I could put down roots anywhere in the country, but Jessica and I make south Jersey our off-season home and always cherish the time we get to spend there."