He’s not a chip off the old block. He’s Michael Block.

And — like it or not — he’s back in the spotlight.

Block, the polarizing teaching pro from Southern California, turned 50 on June 16. To make the occasion, he’s received a special gift: a sponsor’s exemption into his first PGA Tour Champions event, the Dick’s Open, which is being contested this week in Endicott, N.Y., about two hours southeast of Rochester.

In Friday’s opening round at En-Joie Golf Course, Block made the most of the opportunity, carding seven birdies and one bogey en route to a six-under par 66 that put him in a tie for fifth, three shots back of leader Dickie Pride. 

It was a sparkling senior debut for a man who does not have a tour card but does have a following — of supporters and detractors. That prominence — and the tournament’s proximity to Rochester, where Block enjoyed his first 15 minutes of fame three years ago — made him a natural pick for Dick’s Sporting Goods, the title sponsor of the event.

Block’s crisp opening round was all the more impressive given the butterflies he confessed to feeling earlier in the week over the prospect of competing against players he’d grown up worshipping. The nerves, he said, were even more intense than what he had experienced in his appearances in the majors.

“For me to come out here today and shoot what I did my first time out, the pressure I had, everyone’s looking at me,” Block said. “I’ve got all those haters out there which, you know, I love you guys. There you go. I hope you guys like that 66.”

Block, you may recall, first captured national attention with an upstart showing at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, where, with a mix of swagger and aw-shucks shrugs, he wowed crowds by contending deep into the weekend. Initially hailed as an everyman hero, Block was then bashed for being what some regarded as an annoyance. In the eyes of critics, Block’s confidence too often crossed into cocksureness. Of Block’s self-regarding comments, none ruffled more feathers than his claim that if he had Rory McIlroy’s power off the tee, he would be “one of the best players in the world.”

Some fans haven’t let that go. Block is well aware that not everybody loves him. But in New York this week, Block has opted to accentuate the positive, saying he hops to get a “Block party” going in the form of crowd support. 

Block has played in 10 majors, most recently the 2026 Championship, where he missed the cut. Earlier this month, he qualified for the 2026 U.S. Senior Open, earning his spot by way of a 3-for-2 playoff.

That tournament takes place next week at Scioto Country Club in Ohio and it has already seeped into Block’s subconscious. In typically freewheeling remarks on Friday, Block turned a press conference into a Freudian session by describing a dream he’d had about the senior major.

“My family’s known this for a while. I literally, and hate me for it, I don’t care. But I literally had a dream that I was going to win the U.S. Senior Open the first year I turned 50,” Block said. “That’s something I’ve had in my head for a long time. When I got in that playoff last week, it was three guys for two spots to get into the playoff to get in the U.S. Open finals. … I said, ‘This is it,’ and I went birdie-birdie. I’m going to do my best. It might not happen, but I had a dream about it so it’s cool.”

First things first, though: the Dick’s Open. Block tees off in Saturday’s third round at 10:29 a.m. local time, in a group with Freddie Jacobson and Darren Clarke.