Southern California PGA professional Michael Brock captured the hearts of the golf world at the PGA Championship last May. From there, the block party continued for months.
The Mission Viejo, Calif., resident shot to fame in 2023 by traveling the world, playing golf and meeting celebrities.
The calendar may have read 2024, but that doesn't mean his party can't continue.
On Wednesday, the PGA of America named him the 2023 PGA Professional of the Year for the second consecutive year.He earned 1,352.50 points win the title.
“I've never in my life thought, 'Let's try this twice,'” Bullock said in a PGA of America press release. “My goal in life was to win once. I just happened to be able to play well in two important events, the National Club Pro and the PGA Championship. I was lucky enough to win twice in a row. I made it.”
Brock started off his storied year with a T2 finish at the PGA Professional Championship at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.
He joined the CoreBridge Financial PGA Team and made his fifth start in the PGA Championship, one of golf's major tournaments.
That week in Rochester, New York, golf fans were captivated by his charm. He finished 70-70-70-71, the best of any PGA professional in the field, and a T15 finish. With his attitude and friendliness to everyone, he began to become a folk hero.
But it was Sunday's hole-in-one on the par-3 151-yard 15th hole that turned Bullock into golf's superhero.
He and Rory McIlroy partnered for two days and the Northern Irishman impressed with his unwavering confidence.
Everyone remembers when Bullock said he would be the best player in the world if he could hit McIlroy's length off the tee. But the four-time major champion didn't care what the pros said.
After his success in Rochester and the attention he received, including a congratulatory message from Michael Jordan, Bullock received an invitation to the Charles Schwab Challenge.
He and rap artist DJ Khaled would later pair up to win a charity golf tournament.
In September, the head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club won back-to-back PGA Section majors. In September, he won the Southern California Match Play Championship and the Southern California PGA Section Championship.
These two wins earned him the Southern California PGA Player of the Year Award for the 10th time in 11 years.
The block wasn't finished yet. He went under and played the Australian Open. The 47-year-old shot 71-70-69-70, 280, to finish T27 and finish at 5 under.
This award isn't the only thing that will put Bullock in the spotlight in 2024. A finish at the 2023 PGA Championship would mean a trip to the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
