Call it the "Block Rock."
In Friday's first round of the Simmons Bank Championship, Michael Block hit an approach shot that bounced off the rocky edge of a lake and up onto the grass. It actually tried to climb on the green but settled in the fringe.
From there, Block got up-and-down for a closing birdie on the par-5 18th at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Arkansas, to give him the clubhouse lead at 6 under.
This, you gotta see:
Luck or skill? 😂
— PGA Tour Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 30, 2026
Michael Block's approach shot bounces off the rocks to set him up to make birdie at the last @SBGolfChamp pic.twitter.com/hb5SG2exsk
Block, who had eight birdies and two bogeys in the opening round of the second Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs event, would later get passed on the leaderboard by
Zach Johnson (8-under 64) and Henrik Stenson (7-under 65). Steven Alker would match Block's 6-under 66 to tie for third.
But still, it was quite a day, and quite a break, for Block, who's playing in his 11th PGA Tour Champions event in 2026. He did well enough in his first 10 to climb to 43rd in the Schwab Cup standings, easily placing him to the 72-man field at last week's Stifel Classic as well as this week's 51-man Simmons Bank Championship (54 qualified but three of those players aren't there).
Always a showman, Block took off his hat and took a bow to the sizable crowd after seeing his ball on 18 find that fortunate bounce.
"I live off the crowd to be honest," Block said. "I've gotten a lot of hate back in the day when I said I didn't play well without a crowd, but I really do play better with a crowd, with people around and people giving me high-5s, and me more than anything in the back of my head is I guess I'm a pleaser is what I am. I want to please the people that are out there that have spent their time to come out on a Friday or a Saturday or a Sunday and bring their kids and come to the first tournament of their life. I want to show them a good time, that's how I'm built. That's how I am and that's what it's going to be."
It'll be an even better time for Block and his fans if he keeps this going and, even, better, climbs inside the top 36 for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix in two weeks. That would guarantee a 2027 PGA Tour Champions card for this 50-year-old club pro.
"I'm trying to put myself in a good position where I don't have a lot of pressure going into the second or third round, right? One of the big things Bernhard Langer always talked about was on the Champions tour is to get out to a great start and that's what I did, and that's all I care about at this point," he said. "And now I'll be in a good pairing tomorrow [Saturday], have a great time, have a great crowd. And to be honest, one of the most important things for me is to have the crowd. So I've put myself in position where I think the crowd tomorrow here in Little Rock's going to be a lot of fun on Saturday."
Todd Kelly is an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Michael Block bounces ball off the rocks, makes birdie, contends in Schwab playoffs
