We’ve all had a lot of Michael Block in our lives over the last week, and Jordan Spieth says it’s been a stark reminder of how lucky PGA Tour pros are to play golf for a living.
After a decade on Tour, even a usually upbeat character like Spieth admits that he can get drawn into the grind of life on the circuit, going down “a complaining route” he never imagined when he was younger.
But watching Block lap up every ounce of his PGA Championship helped with Spieth’s perspective, making him remember again why he picked up a golf club in the first place and why he loves the sport so much.
“I think what was so cool about that,” Spieth said of watching Block. “As a player that can get caught into a decade out here and think of it as work more than play, is you saw how he embraced that entire week.
“And he’s talked about it after as like, you’ll look back and think of a couple of weeks in your life, and this may be one of the best ones I’ve had. It’s like, man, we get to do that every week.
“I think if you can kind of help keep that perspective and be a little more like Michael Block week to week, it would be a good thing for all of us.”
Spieth says that it’s important for him to remember how he played golf as a teenager, and how he wants to replicate that now even in the high-pressure environment of the PGA Tour.
His swashbuckling style is one of the reasons the three-time Major champion is one of the biggest draws in golf, and thanks to Block’s exploits he’ll keep on going on the attack – and wowing crowds in the process.
“I’ve always talked about the most important thing for me is trying to remember that it’s a game and I want to be who I was when I was 14, 15 years old,” said Spieth.
“Getting better and falling in love with the game by shooting low scores, wanting to go out and practice, and having fun attacking pins.
“If I’m 80 years old, I’m not going to remember when I laid it 30 feet left of the hole, which at times may be a better decision, but also if I played that way, I may have won another event or two, but I probably wouldn’t have won three or four of them that I did.
“I guess what I’m saying is he has no reason to play other than play the way he always has known, and I think there’s something to be taken from that. More importantly, it’s just the way his demeanour was on and off the course, the way he talked about it.
“That’s what I meant in we could all use a little Michael Block. Those of us that have been out here a long time and get caught up in the complaining route.
“I was told that happened the first few years, and I never thought it would be me, and then I catch myself sometimes. Just we got it pretty good.”