Block back to reality, shoots 81 at Colonial
Mission Viejo club pro Michael Block was living the dream at the PGA Championship. Thursday at Colonial brought him back to reality.
A sensation at Oak Hill when he tied for 15th against the strongest field in golf, Block opened with three straight bogeys and finished with three double bogeys over his last four holes of an 11-over-par 81 that left him in last place and 19 shots behind Harry Hall in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Fort Worth.
Block received a sponsor exemption — he has one for the RBC Canadian Open next week, too — after his amazing week at the PGA Championship.
“If you are a golfer, you've had the day I've had,” said Block, the club pro at Arroyo Trabuco, after his worst score by seven shots in the four PGA Tour-level events he has played this year. “... It is what it is. I’m going to live with it. I thought it was going to happen that third or fourth round last week at Oak Hill, and it never happened. It happened now, and I wasn’t surprised by it, to tell you the truth.”
Hall had a dream start. The PGA Tour rookie from England took only 22 putts, the last one an eight-foot birdie for an eight-under 62 that gave him a three-shot lead over Harris English.
Tom Hoge, who played his college golf at Texas Christian and lives in Fort Worth, holed out for eagle from the seventh fairway on his way to a 66.
Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Sam Burns were in the large group at 67. Jordan Spieth didn't make his lone birdie until the eighth hole and opened with a 72.
Nordqvist pushed to limit but wins again
Anna Nordqvist was among 11 players who won matches for the second straight day, only the threetime major champion from Sweden had to work the longest at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play in North Las Vegas, Nev.
Nordqvist had her second match go all 18 holes before she held on for a 1-up victory over Lauren Coughlin. Nordqvist never trailed, but she watched a 4-up lead after eight holes shrink to 1 up after the 13th.
The second day of roundrobin group play was all about staying alive, and 16 players from the field of 64 already are mathematically eliminated. Xiyu “Janet” Lin was the only top seed in her group to be eliminated, losing another match, this time to Pajaree Anannarukarn.
Harrington takes lead at Senior PGA
Padraig Harrington shot eight-under 64 in the first competitive round at the new Texas headquarters of the PGA of America for a two-shot lead at the Senior PGA Championship in Frisco.
Japan's Katsumasa Miyamoto shot 66 and Brazilian Adilson da Silva had a 67 in the Senior PGA debut for both. Phillip Price also shot 67 at PGA Frisco’s Fields Ranch East course.
Stewart Cink was in a large group another shot back in his first PGA Tour Champions start four days after turning 50.