Fairy Tale Gets Fitting Ending: Michael Block Dunks An Ace On 15, Earns His Way Into Next Year's PGA Championship

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It's official: even though Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship, the story of the weekend was Michael Block. The PGA professional, who isn't even a member of the PGA Tour, has captured the hearts of America.

And, by finishing in a tie for 15th place, he earned his spot in next year's PGA Championship. Koepka might be the champion, but Block is the winner.

Not only did Michael Block make the cut -- an incredible accomplishment in its own right -- but he remained in contention with some of the best golfers on the planet. Block told CBS reporter Amanda Renner that he spends so much time teaching golf to his students that he only hits about one bucket per week.

Talk about giving hope to all us amateur golfers out there. He only hits around 100 golf shots per week -- less than most Tour players probably hit in one day. Yet, here there he was in a major championship hanging around all weekend.

He entered Sunday as one of just three golfers to shoot even par or better in every, single round. Jon Rahm didn't do that. Scottie Scheffler didn't do that. Brooks Koepka didn't do that. But Michael Block did that.

Michael Block of the United States, PGA of America Club Professional, reacts to his hole-in-one on the 15th tee during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on May 21, 2023 in Rochester, New York.

Michael Block makes incredible ace at PGA Championship

You know what else those guys didn't do? Make a hole-in-one at the PGA Championship. In fact, no one made a hole-in-one at the PGA Championship.

Until Michael Block. He stepped up to the tee on the Par-3, 151-yard 15th hole at Oak Hill and hit an incredible shot. The ball tracked the pin the entire way. It never bounced. It simply just disappeared.

And the crowd went BONKERS.

Block couldn't even believe it. Literally, he did not believe it. Rory McIlroy gave him a hug and Michael Block says "That didn't go in, did it?"

"It went in the hole," McIlroy says.

"No. NO!" Block shouts.

Then he takes the walk that all golfers dream about. The stroll up to the hole to pick your ball out of the cup following a hole-in-one. Except Block got to do it with fans roaring for him. A moment he probably couldn't have even imagined.

You know when you have a dream that's so unrealistic that even while asleep, you realize that you must be dreaming? That has to be how Michael Block felt walking up to the 15th green.

And thanks to that ace, he shot a final round of 71 to go along with 70-70-70 over the first three rounds. That means an automatic bid to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Sports are just the best. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.