Michael Block took a two-shot lead into the final round of The Ally Challenge at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club with a chance to do something he had never done anywhere near a PGA Tour Champions leaderboard: win. By Sunday evening it was Steven Alker holding the trophy, a composed four-under 68 pulling him three clear of the field, while Block’s Sunday unravelled into a two-over 74 and a share of third. It was not the ending the galleries in Grand Blanc, Michigan, were hoping for, and Block, characteristically, had plenty to say about it anyway.
A bogey-free Saturday set up the drama
Block arrived at the weekend already a story. The 50-year-old head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, playing just his fifth PGA Tour Champions start on a sponsor exemption, opened with a 66 before a bogey-free 65 on Saturday, an eagle at the first setting the tone. That round put him at 131, two shots clear of Alker, and gave him something he had never had on this tour before: the outright lead heading into the final round.
Playing on sponsor exemption, Michael Block leads by 2 at PGA Tour Champions Ally Challenge https://t.co/7TfdLbdBuB
— Golfweek (@golfweek) August 29, 2026
📸 Mike Mulholland, Getty Images pic.twitter.com/xCHAmRuVlL
He was open, as ever, about why he plays the way he does. “One of the biggest things for me is like I never want the crowd to be bored,” Block said after the second round. “Every once in a while, I look at the crowd and they’re all quiet. They’re talking on their cells and they’re not even looking at what’s going on. To me, I’m kind of more of the guy like, hey, we’re out here, let’s go. I try to get them pumped up.” He stuck one pin-high on the par-three 8th on Sunday and flipped his club in celebration, a gesture that drew as much online eye-rolling as applause, which by now is simply part of the Michael Block experience.
Alker takes over on the back nine
Whatever the mood in the gallery, the golf on Sunday belonged to Alker. He caught Block, then passed him, and by the turn had put real daylight between himself and the chasing pack.
An exclamation point from Steven Alker!
— PGA Tour Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 30, 2026
His lead is now four shots @AllyChallenge 👀
📺 CNBC pic.twitter.com/KzjlvOyCxE
The 68 was Alker’s second win in as many starts, following his playoff victory at the Rogers Charity Classic the week before, and his third of the 2026 season. Retief Goosen produced the best round of the day, an eight-under 64, to finish alone in second at twelve under, three shots back. Stewart Cink and Greg Chalmers joined Block at eleven under in a tie for third, while Padraig Harrington, two days short of his 55th birthday, closed with a 69 to finish inside the top ten.
What the week meant for Block
Block’s Sunday was undone by a mix of five bogeys against three birdies, the kind of round that happens when nerves meet a course playing firm and quick. He was honest about the difference between Saturday’s freedom and Sunday’s pressure. “I played a little bit different golf than I did the first two days because I was nervous, I had never been there before,” he said. “So it was a learning experience for me. Now, saying that, I believe fully that you could see Blockie, Alker, Harrington in many future groups on Sundays.”
It is a bold thing to say after a final-round 74, and Block has never been shy about saying bold things. But the underlying numbers back up at least part of the claim. His week was his second top five in five Champions starts this season, his best 36-hole position yet, and it books him a start next week at the Sanford International in Sioux Falls. For a 50-year-old club professional who is still better known for a hole-in-one at the 2023 PGA Championship than for anything he has done on the senior circuit, going toe to toe with a player of Alker’s calibre for three days is not nothing, whatever Sunday’s scorecard says. The win still belongs to Alker, who has now turned a career built mostly on grinding out a living into one of the form stories of the PGA Tour Champions season. But the gallery at Warwick Hills came for Block, and by every account, left entertained.