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Best finish by a PGA Professional ever at the PGA Championship

By Cody Williams

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - MAY 20: Michael Block of the United States, PGA of America Club Professional, plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on May 20, 2023 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - MAY 20: Michael Block of the United States, PGA of America Club Professional, plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on May 20, 2023 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /
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Michael Block has been one of the biggest stories at the 2023 PGA Championship and has fans wondering what is the best finish by a PGA Professional?

Simply by making the cut at the 2023 PGA Championship, Michael Block earned the honors as the low PGA Professional out of the 20 club pros who earned their way to playing at Oak Hill Country Club. However, he’s done much more than that.

On an extremely difficult golf course for the week and in the soppy, wet, tiresome conditions on Saturday, Block has been arguably the most consistent player in the field at the PGA Championship. His reward was entering the final round of the tournament at even-par with three straight rounds of even-par 70, good enough for being T8 and getting paired with Rory McIlroy on Sunday.

There was a lot on the line for Michael Block at the week too. With a great finish in the final round, he could earn his spot into The Masters, next year’s PGA Championship, and even an outside chance of earning special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. In spite of all of that, though, fans were wondering if he was also chasing another piece of history.

Specifically, golf fans wondered what the best finish by a PGA Professional at the PGA Championship is.

Best PGA Championship finish for a PGA Professional?

Tommy Aycock at Tanglewood Park in 1974 and Lonnie Nielsen at Inverness in 1986 are tied for the best finish by a PGA club pro at the PGA Championship, both coming in at T-11. And in fact, Aycock and Nielsen are just two of four PGA Professional entrants into the major championship to finish inside the Top 20. Jay Overton (T17, 1988 Oak Tree) and Bob Boyd (T19, 1990 Shoal Creek) are the only other two to do so.

In the last 30 years, though, we haven’t seen a PGA Professional finish inside the Top 30 at the major championship. The best finish since 2003 in the last 20 years as well was Chip Sullivan at Whistling Straits in 2004 as he finished T31.

Michael Block has a chance to better all of that in monster fashion, though, becoming the first club pro to ever finish inside the Top 10.

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