Out of the Block: 'Golf is my life' - Club pro aces to cap perfect PGA Championship run

With a golf ball marked with the words 'Why not?' in his pocket and an ace in a Major that he will remember for life, club professional Michael Block captured hearts at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

Block couldn't have written a better script as he finished tied for 15th in front of a boisterous crowd in Rochester, New York.

The 46-year-old is a club professional who charges roughly R2 880 ($150) for a golf lesson at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

Playing in only his seventh Major, Block stepped up and produced one of the best finishes by a club pro in the PGA Championship in more than 30 years.

As the world's best battled to make the cut, Block, consistent as ever, made the Oak Hill course look a breeze with level par rounds of 70, 70, 70 and 71 to end on one-over par for the tournament - 10 shots off American Brooks Koepka.

"This week's been absolutely a dream. I didn't know it was going to happen, but I knew if I just played my darned game, right, I could do this. I always knew it," said Block.

"The one thing in the world that makes me cry is golf. If that puts into context as far as how much I love the game, you know now. It's everything to me.

"Obviously, I love my family and everything else and my job and everything, but golf is my life. I live it, breathe it."

Heading into the final round, Block sat tied for eighth - six shots behind leader and eventual winner Koepka.

Paired with Rory McIlroy on Sunday, Block carded a one-over 71, including that stunning ace, a slam-dunk hole-in-one on the par-3 15th. It was his fourth ace overall in his career and the first by a club professional at the PGA Championship since 1996.

MICHAEL. BLOCK. ACE. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/YitD2QLDB7

Block's 15th-place