Fort Worth Magazine
Michael Block did nothing on Thursday to diminish how the golf world feels about him.
The first order of business upon arriving at the Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday was a research project. So, I went to this newfangled-all-knowing-omniscient-robot-mumbo-jumbo thingamajig that is said to bring into existence whatever exists.
ChatGPT, I don’t know Harry Hall from Harry Higgs. Who is this Harry Hall?
“The name ‘Harry Hall’ could refer to a fictional character, a common name combination, or a specific person known in a particular context or community. Without further information, it's difficult to provide specific details about Harry Hall.”
All right, smart guy, let’s try this: Harry Hall golfer.
“I apologize for any confusion earlier. … There is indeed a professional golfer named Harry Hall. Harry Hall is a British golfer who turned professional in 2020. He had a successful college golf career playing for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) before making the transition to the professional ranks. Since turning professional, he has competed in various tournaments on different tours, including the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Canada. It's worth noting that my knowledge cutoff is in September 2021, so there might have been further developments in Harry Hall's career since then.”
So, it goes without saying, he, or she, definitely has no idea who Michael Block is.
The information on Hall all checked out, as did five food trucks near No. 4. That’s an added bonus at this year's tournament. But Harry Hall has indeed done more since September 2021, like, for instance, ascending the banks of Fort Worth’s portion of the Trinity River on Thursday in an apparent British invasion of the venerable Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
Hall fired off an eight-birdie, bogey-free round of 62 in 22 putts in the morning to take a four-shot lead.
Hall missed seven greens but played those holes in 1 under, including a chip-in for birdie from about 80 feet on the 12th hole that put him at 7 under. He made it clear he didn’t intend to bogey with a 29-footer for par on 15.
“I was really in the moment out there and determined to play some good golf,” Hall said. “The seven out of seven scrambles doesn’t really surprise me because that’s the best part of my game, but the way I hit the ball the first two-thirds of that round was pretty special.”
Four strokes back, in third, is a guy I don’t need assistance with on the bio.
TCU graduate Tom Hoge, who has missed the cut here the past three years, shot a 66 in the first round. Beginning his round on No. 10, Hoge got off to a 3-under start, but bogeys at 14 and 1 sent him into retreat. Yet, Hoge recovered with a birdie on No. 6 and an eagle on No. 7, knocking his second shot in from 157 yards with an 8-iron.
“I got off to a really good start when the wind was down,” Hoge said. “There were a lot of birdies to be made right off the get-go with soft greens and no wind. [On 7] I was kind of going back and forth between an 8- and 9-iron as the wind was kind of moving downwind just more across. Ended up going with an 8-iron, and I guess it was the perfect club.”
Fort Worth Magazine
The Marvin Leonard Trophy sat perched at the No. 1 tee box all day.
Lurking five shots back is Scottie Scheffler, who shot a 3 under in the morning. Another Dallasite, Jordan Spieth, has more work to do after a 2 over.
Michael Block, currently the most popular player in golf after his braveheart performance at the PGA Championship, perhaps the most acclaimed 15th-place finish in golf history, was the most intriguing player in the field on Thursday with a large gallery following along.
Block struggled playing in the afternoon.
His scorecard had the wrong kind of numbers on it. Block shot an 11-over 81, which put him at the bottom of the field. Fatigue almost certainly had something to do with it. His last eight days had to be exhausting. He was emotional speaking to the media afterward, likely less about how me played and more just thinking about his public ascent.
As they say, it all escalated quickly. No one knew who Block, a PGA club professional, was last Thursday, a week ago. Next thing you know, everyone wants a piece of him.
"It is what it is. I'm going to live with it," he said of his blowup Thursday. "I thought it was going to happen that third or fourth round last week at Oak Hill, and it never happened. It happened now, and I wasn't surprised by it, to tell you the truth.
"The experience I had that last week was next level. So today, coming out here and not having my game at all and having a lot of bad luck or whatever you might call it, just call it golf."
Block tees off for the second round at 8:48 a.m. on Friday.
