Two weeks ago, Michael Block told Golfweek that playing Aronimink Golf Club would mean getting "his ass handed to him." He worried the course was too long, and the lack of rollout would be his undoing. Fast forward to Thursday's opening round of the 2026 PGA Championship, and it turns out he couldn't have been more wrong.

Block carded an even-par 70, sitting tied for 32nd when he walked off the course. That put him ahead of superstars like Rory McIlroy (4 over) and Bryson DeChambeau (6 over), as well as his own playing partners—Dustin Johnson and Rasmus Hojgaard—who both shot 72. Not bad for a 49-year-old club pro who works as the head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

How did he do it? By "dissecting" Aronimink, as he put it. Block sprinkled four birdies across his scorecard, offset by two bogeys and one double-bogey. The key, he said, was sticking to his own game plan despite being paired with two of the longest hitters in the sport.

"Paired with D.J. and Rasmus, two absolute bombers, the big thing at the beginning of the day was—and I told Ethan, my son, who's my caddie—I said, 'Do not try to hang with them. We're just going to play our own game,'" Block explained.

And play his own game he did. Block ranked 145th out of 156 players in average driving distance, but that didn't stop him from putting together the best round of any of the 20 club pros in the field. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and finished the day in the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Putting.

"Bunt it down the fairway, main thing was get it in the fairway, put it in a spot, on the green or even off the green that would give us an opportunity to still make a par," Block said. "Kind of dissect Aronimink, to be honest, which is what we did today. I dissected it to a 70—I shot 70 today? That's kind of cool."

This isn't Block's first brush with major championship glory. Three years ago, he became the darling of the golf world when he finished tied for 15th at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club—the highest finish by a PGA Professional in 40 years. Since then, he's become a somewhat polarizing figure thanks to his goofy social media presence, but on days like this, it's hard not to root for the guy who's just happy to be here—and proving he belongs.