“‘No, it’s usually better’”: Rory McIlroy was in awe of Michael Block’s confidence before his incredible par save at the PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy is one of the best golfers in the world, as evidenced by his multiple Major victories and his current world number two ranking. Even he was left in awe of Michael Block at the PGA Championship.

Block took the world by storm, nailing a hole-in-one and making impressive shot after impressive shot. His skill was one thing, but his confidence was what attracted attention. Per McIlroy, the confidence Block plays with is incredible.

He said via Golf Digest:

"His caddie is still trying to get through the crowd or whatever, so Michael comes up on the green, marks his ball and gives it to Harry, my caddie, to clean for him. And Harry asks Blockie, 'Is your short game usually this good?' And he goes, 'No, it’s usually better.' I was like, Oh, my god. But it’s great. How much confidence is that?"

Needless to say, McIlroy was floored by Block's confidence. Block doubled down later, adding that with his short game (the one he said was usually better) and McIlroy's driving ability, he would perhaps be the best golfer out there.

McIlroy conceded that while that wasn't the nicest statement, he knows Block didn't mean any harm by it:

"Look, has he made some statements afterwards that I probably disagree with? Absolutely. But again, whenever you’re getting asked a million questions from a million people it’s so hard to not say something, jeez, I’ve certainly regretted things I’ve said or answers I’ve given to certain questions and Blockie is probably feeling the same way at some point. But it still doesn’t take anything away from what a cool story in golf that that’s been this year."

Block later clarified his comments, stating that he meant no disrespect to Rory McIlroy. He believes his statement was misconstrued and that real golfers would have understood him better:

"That was an incomprehensible thing where yeah, if I gained 60 yards, if I had a gap wedge into every green rather than a four iron into every green, would I be better? I'd be a whole hell of a lot better."

Michael Block is one of the most impressive stories all year in the world of golf. That was unfortunately tainted by the above controversy, but even McIlroy stated that the golfer's story was more important than any inappropriate comments.

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Rory McIlroy finished ahead of Michael Block at PGA Championship

What was so impressive about the former caddie taking his first real shot in a major tournament is that he actually did pretty well. He placed T15 with a one over par showing. He was even coming into the final round.

Rory McIlroy finished above Michael Block

Rory McIlroy, naturally, placed ahead of Michael Block, but not by a wide margin. He came into the final round one under par and shot one under on the day. He finished with a -2 showing, good enough for T7.

However, they were well behind the winner, LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka. He was -9 on the day and finished a couple strokes ahead of Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler.