Michael Block: I'd Be Among World's Best Golfers If I Could Drive Like Rory McIlroy

The difference between Michael Block and Rory McIlroy comes down to the length of their shots—at least according to Block himself.

The darling of the 2023 PGA Championship appeared on the Ripper Magoo podcast and said he could be one of the best golfers in the world if he were longer off the tee.

"What I would shoot from where Rory hits it would be stupid. I think I'd be one of the best players in the world," Block said. "Hands down. If I had that stupid length, all day. My iron game, wedge game, around the greens and my putting is world-class."

Block, a club pro golfer, took the golf world by storm with a 15th-place finish at this month's PGA Championship. His final round saw him play side-by-side with McIlroy and was highlighted by a hole-in-one that gave him the biggest purse of his golf career.

Block also earned an invitation to the 2024 PGA Championship and exceptions to the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Canadian Open.

McIlroy is averaging 326.2 yards with his driver this season, whereas Block is at 284.6 yards in PGA Tour play. A difference of nearly 42 yards is an incredible chasm, one that likely amounts to a few strokes over the course of 18 holes.

With that said, there are plenty of players on the PGA Tour who don't blast the ball down the fairway like McIlroy and do just fine for themselves. The difference is that they do it at a more accurate clip than Block, who hits the fairway only 55.6 percent of the time.

If Block were a more precise player off the tee, he would be able to account for some of the difference between his and McIlroy's drives by having better second-shot chances.

McIlroy hits only 49.5 percent of his fairways, but his drive length provides a buffer that a similarly inconsistent player like Block cannot afford.