PGA club pro Michael Block mixing it with the big guns

SURVEYING HIS OPTIONS: Michael Block lines up a putt on the eighth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York. Pic: AP Photo/Eric Gay

Every year, the PGA Championship invites 20 club pros – the top finishers in the annual PGA Professional Championship – to fill out the 156-player field. They rarely feature in the main event, typically filling out the last spots of players missing the cut along with aging past PGA champions.

Michael Block, however, is making a star turn this week at Oak Hill, exuding a casual cool as he fired two consecutive even-par 70s to not just make the cut but sit on the leaderboard.