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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — PGA club pro Michael Block‘s dream week at the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club got even better on Sunday.
Block, who started the final round tied for eighth, aced the par-3, 151-yard 15th hole on Sunday. His ball barely touched the green-and somehow never hit the flag-before slamming into the hole and sending fans into a frenzy.
“That went into the hole,” said Rory McIlroy, who is playing with Block on Sunday.
“No,” Block said. “No way. No way. Rory, did it go in?”
When Block finally became convinced that it had, he raised his black cap and waved it at the fans. He high-fived McIlroy. Block walked onto the 15th green and grabbed his ball out of the cup, which had been damaged by his slam dunk.
It was the first hole-in-one of the week, and the first at the PGA Championship since Byeong Hun An‘s ace on the 11th hole in the final round in 2020 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Block, from Mission Viejo, California, got off to a tough start on Sunday, posting bogeys on No. 1 and No. 7. He made the turn at 2 over 37. The ace got him back to even par for the tournament and into a tie for 13th place with three holes left to play.
A top-10 finish would earn Block a spot in next month’s RBC Canadian Open, and a top-15 would get him back to the next year’s PGA Championship.
The best finish by a PGA club pro in the PGA Championship who advanced through the PGA Professional Championship was a tie for 11th by Lonnie Nielsen in 1986 and Tommy Aycock in 1974.