Michael Block captures SoCal PGA Professional Championship

Michael Block, the teaching professional from Mission Viejo, California, who became the darling of the PGA Championship in May, shot a final-round 6-under 66 to win the Southern California PGA Professional Championship at Sherwood Country Club on Wednesday.

Block, who teaches at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, birdied the last two holes for an 11-under total over three rounds. He won by four and also wrapped up the section Player of the Year Award for the 10th time in 11 years. The accomplishments get Block starts in two PGA TOUR events in Southern California next year, The American Express in La Quinta and Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla.

“I rolled in a couple of putts down that final stretch, and the tide turned pretty quickly," said Block, the 2022 PGA of America Professional Player of the Year. "I was lucky enough to come away with the trophy, and I’m grateful for all the support and comradery we have here in the Section.”

This was his fourth victory in the Southern California PGA Professional Championship, following victories in 2017, 2018 and last year.

The victory caps off a year in which he made an improbable run at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, where he made a wild up-and-down par at the last to finish T15 for low PGA professional honors. He also made a hole-in-one while playing alongside Rory McIlroy in the final round, and with his par save at the last booked his spot in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

“This week’s been absolutely a dream,” Block said at Oak Hill. “I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I knew if I just played my darned game, right, that I could do this. I always knew it.”

Two-time PGA Championship winner McIlroy, who gave Block a high-five and a hug after his back-nine ace, spoke for many after the round: “I think with the way the week’s went for him, it was a fitting way to cap off his PGA Championship.”

Block's newfound celebrity led to sponsor exemptions into two PGA TOUR events immediately after the PGA, and social media posts since have shown him hanging out with DJ Khaled, matching the course record at Valhalla and recording the ninth albatross of his career.