What a difference a week makes. After his scintillating performance at the PGA Championship over the weekend, club pro Michael Block climbed from place 3,580 to No.
577 in the latest Official World Golf Ranking, released Monday. The head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, Block finished tied for 15th at 1-over 281.
It was the best finish for a club professional at the PGA Championship since Lonnie Nielsen tied for 11th in 1986. Being inside the top 15 ensured Block would be exempt into next year's PGA Championship.
He won't have to play the annual PGA Professional Championship to qualify, as he has done in years past. Block, 46, also was awarded an exemption into this week's PGA Tour event, the Charles Schwab Challenge.