Is golf’s 47-year-old new cult hero coming to Australia?
He had a hole-in-one playing alongside Rory McIlroy and became golf’s new cult hero almost overnight - and now PGA of Australia officials want to bring Michael Block down for the summer.
Block, 47, was the toast of the golfing world when the club professional finished tied-15th in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, winning a legion of fans with his play and attitude, which saw him almost overwhelmed to be paired with McIlroy in the final round.
The PGA of Australia has quietly been campaigning for Block to play at Royal Queensland in November, a coup that would give the tournament international appeal. He could also hold sessions with club professionals in Australia before the $2 million tournament.
But Block’s signature won’t come at the expense of bringing homegrown talent like Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman or Matt Jones back to Australia, albeit it’s one tournament organisers have pursued.
“It would be a lot of fun to have a Michael Block come down and play, but we’ve got to look at economics,” PGA of Australia boss Gavin Kirkman said.
“His rise to stardom and what he’s done for the vocational PGA [professionals] has highlighted you can be a great coach, as well as a great player at the same time. We just hope the economics don’t get in the way.
“We’ve had discussions, but our priority at the moment is to lock in our Aussie players and showcase what they can do in front of their fans. Then we’ll start looking into the opportunity of international players coming down.
“[But] the message he would tell, and the profile he would give to the vocational membership, would be a lot of fun.”
The PGA of Australia remain confident they will have a star-studded Australian cast for the summer’s two big events, including the Australian Open in Sydney, despite a number of top-ranked male players expressing concern over the dual gender national championship.
Last year’s event was the first time male and female players have played an Australian Open alongside each other, which resulted in an easier course set-up and, in some instances, rounds which lasted more than five hours due to a congested course.
Michael Block (left) with Brooks Koepka after the PGA Championship.Credit: Getty
But Kirkman and Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland emerged from a week of meetings at The Open at Royal Liverpool confident the country’s best male players wouldn’t shun the Australian Open, which will be played across The Australian Golf Club and The Lakes.
The tournament will feature a reduced women’s field of just 84 players, while the controversial double cut, which saw Smith sent home after 54 holes, has been scrapped.
“The key areas they weren’t happy about we’ve addressed and it’s very positive for both events,” Kirkman said. “We gave them a forum to give their feedback and we got together to address the four or five areas.
“Everyone is really positive to come back and play. We’ll have players supporting their home tours.”
The new Australian season will begin with the NT PGA Championship next month and the second half of the schedule will be finalised after the PGA Tour and DP World Tour confirm their tournaments.
“We want to profile our domestic players a lot better and turn them into household names like we did in the halcyon years of Baker-Finch, Grady, Senior and Shearer,” Kirkman said. “That’s for men and women.
“We’re capable now of delivering on world-class events. We want to take our events to a new level and inspire the next gen of girls and boys.”
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