After Michael Brock was on and made another birdie. 9th hole on the south coursethe “block party” was alive and well.
At this point, Brock was at 3 under and remained a favorite to win. He had three birdies and three bogeys on the front, posting an even-par score on Thursday's opening nine.
The previous day, Bullock shot a 3-under 69 on the easy North Course at Torrey Pines. He was in the best position to win the weekend, which was an impressive feat for his PGA teaching pro in a tournament like this.
But someone turned off the lights on the back nine.
And just like that, the party ended.
He got off to a good start in the final stages with a two-putt par on the par-4 10th hole. However, he ran shortside on the par-3 11th hole. Brock was unable to get up and down from the greenside bunker to the right of the 11th pin, resulting in bogey.
His approach errors and failures to save par around the greens were a consistent theme Friday. In fact, Brock dropped a 1.889 shot around the greens on the South Course, placing him 76th. Just 78 players teed up on South Friday.
This trend continued with one of Torrey Pines' most famous holes, the par-5 13th.
Brock hit his third shot into a greenside bunker, but once again he was unable to save par due to the sand and dropped his next shot.
Suddenly, he was at 1 under, two strokes behind the cut line.
He continued his downward trend.
Two holes later, Brock nailed a 292-yard drive from the middle of the 15th fairway. That could have turned his momentum in his direction, but Brock sent his second shot into the trap to the left of the green. He then hit his third shot into a bunker, resulting in another bogey.
By then he was at even par, and with three holes left, his hopes were gone.
Alas, on the next hole, the 186-yard par-3 16th, Brock found the beach again. He committed shortside again, leading to another drop shot. Brock made 1 of 6 sand saves in the second round.
Just like that, Brock found himself above championship standards for the first time this week, but unfortunately, Brock ended up finishing there.
Bullock, who shot to fame at the 2023 PGA Championship, shot a 4-over 76 thanks to four bogeys on the back nine. He left the 18th green with one over.
But fortunately for him, the golf world will see Brock in Valhalla again at the PGA Championship in May. He famously saved par on the up-and-down 18th hole at Oak Hill to earn a spot in Louisville in 2024.
If only that short game had carried over to Torrey Pines this week.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
