Michael Block has a chance to defy the odds again – but this time he’ll need help from his son.
On Monday, two weeks after the club pro from Southern California electrified the golf world with a hole-in-one and a 15th-place finish at the PGA Championship, he’ll try to qualify for the U.S. Open.
So will his 18-year-old son, Dylan.
The Blocks will be among more than 500 golfers vying for about 60 spots in final qualifying for the U.S. Open, set for June 15-18 in Los Angeles. The qualifying will take place at 10 sites, each hosting 36-hole competitions.
“If for some reason the stars align like they did a couple of weeks ago and my boy and I are both playing in the U.S. Open, it’d probably be the best experience of my life and would outdo Oak Hill (the site of this year’s PGA Championship),” said Michael Block, 46.
Where will Michael and Dylan Block play?
There are six known times where fathers and sons played in the same U.S. Open, according to the U.S. Golf Association.
Both Michael and Dylan were scheduled to play at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles but Michael opted to play at the lone final qualifier in Canada because he received a sponsor exemption to the RBC Canadian Open starting Thursday.
Val Block, Michael’s wife and Dylan’s mother, will be in Los Angeles.
“I’m going to be a train wreck trying to follow my husband with my phone and being there for Dylan,” she said. “They both want it so badly. My heart is already starting to beat hard.”
How rare are father-son combos?
Michael Block is attempting to become the sixth golfer to play in the same U.S. Open with one of his sons:
- Jack Nicklaus and his son Gary Nicklaus played in 1997 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
- Gary Player and his son Wayne played in 1982 at Pebble Beach, California.
- Jay Haas and his son Bill were the only father-and-son combo to do it twice – in 2003 at Olympia FieldsCountry Club and in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where they both made the cut.
- Willie Hunter and his son Mac did it in1947 at St. Louis Country Club in Clayton, Missouri and Joe Kirkwood did it in 1948 at Riviera Country Club in the Los Angeles.
- The only father known to have played with two sons in the same U.S. Open took place in 1903, when Tom Anderson Sr. was in the field with sons Tom and Willie at Baltusrol Golf Club Springfield, New Jersey.
How did the Blocks get here?
Michael Block, who played in the 2007 and 2018 U.S. Open, was exempt from local…
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