Michael Block clears the air over controversial comments on Rory McIlroy

PGA club pro Michael Block cleared up his controversial comments that compared his game to Rory McIlroy’s following the duo’s round together at the PGA Championship in May.

Block called his comments “misconstrued” and “misconceived” by those who aren’t “real golfers.”

“He’s a lot longer than I am, that’s what it is. What I would shoot from where Rory hits it would be stupid, I think I’d be one of the best players in the world, hands down,” Block initially said on Bob Menery’s RipperMagoo Podcast. “If I had that stupid length, all day, my iron game, wedge game, around the greens and my putting is world class.”

Block, who finished tied for 15th at the PGA Championship after sinking a hole-in-one alongside McIlroy, spoke to GolfMonthly extensively about the comments.

“It was totally misconstrued, misconceived, the whole thing. I really feel like if you’re a real golfer, you kind of understood what I had meant,” Block said. “That was an incomprehensible thing where yeah, if I gained 60 yards, if I had a gap wedge into every green rather than a four iron into every green, would I be better? I’d be a whole hell of a lot better. 

“Would I be better than Roy McIlroy? Absolutely not. Rory is an absolute stud and at no point, in any shape or form, was I ever trying to say anything about Rory or the tour professionals.”

Block: Comments ‘taken out of context’

Block continued his comments by saying he never intended to cause a hubbub with his hypothetical musings.

“I was just one hundred percent saying, if I had an extra 60 yards off of every tee, every day of my life, would I be on tour? Probably. Guaranteed? Absolutely not,” Block said. “I know I can’t say I don’t care what people say or think – of course I do – but, at the same time, I understand what I meant, and I know for a fact, I didn’t mean to hurt anybody or say anything that would.

“It was taken completely out of context but is also my fault, I guess. I said it the wrong way. I did a couple of thousand interviews [after the tournament] but I guess I did say one thing wrong but it’s okay.”

The California club pro will likely choose his words more carefully as he continues fighting for his spot on the tour. With his finish at Oak Hill, he earned a spot in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.