Michael Block, Tyler Collet Share One-Shot Lead Following First Day of 2025 PGA Professional Championship

A pair of battle-tested PGA of America Golf Professionals climbed to the top of the leaderboard during Sunday’s opening round of the 2025 PGA Professional Championship.

Michael Block (Mission Viejo, Calif.) shot a stellar 7-under-par 64 on PGA Golf Club’s Ryder course while Tyler Collet (Vero Beach, Fla.) posted a nearly flawless 7-under-par 65 at the Wanamaker to share a one-stroke lead. Block’s 64 is just the second ever in the Championship’s first round, one shy of both the first-round and single-round scoring record.

Jesse Mueller (Phoenix, Ariz.), Tommi Avant (Chandler, Ariz.) and Trevor Bensel (Lancaster, Pa.) are tied for third one shot back after all three recorded 6-under–par 65s on Ryder. Andre Chi (Queens, N.Y.), Tom Johnson (San Francisco, Calif.), Mike Ballo Jr. (Stamford, Conn.), Nic Ishee (Columbus, Miss.), Peter Ballo (Stamford, Conn.), Brandon Bingaman (Dallas, Texas) and Brady Swedberg (Alexandria, Minn.) are two back after shooting 5-under-par 66s on the Ryder course.

Block, the PGA Head Golf Professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, adopted a simple game plan—“go to work”—alongside his son and caddie, Ethan, on Sunday. The father-son duo sought to treat each shot as a “new shot, new day, new everything.”

“You’ve just got to go forward,” said Block. “That’s all I did. It’s a really cool way to go about it because you quickly forget about the last shot, which is kind of fun.”

Playing in his 11th consecutive PGA Professional Championship, Block started his round on the back nine and promptly birdied holes 11, 12 and 13. The Southern California PGA Member added another birdie at the par-5, 552-yard 17th to make the turn at 4-under-par 31.

Block, a veteran of six PGA Championships and the 2023 Low PGA of America Golf Professional at Oak Hill Country Club, added four more birdies at the par-4, 413-yard 2nd; par-4 386-yard 3rd; par-5, 500-yard 4th; and par-4, 408-yard 8th holes. His lone bogey came on his final hole, the par-4, 431-yard 9th.

“We never had to do anything crazy,” said Block. “It was one of those rounds where it was an easy 64, to be honest. I lipped out for 62. I lipped out again for 63 and ended up tapping in for 64. It is what it is. I had a good time and I couldn’t ask for anything better than to have Ethan on the bag.”

Collet, a PGA Assistant Golf Professional at John’s Island Club, also executed his game plan of “playing smart out there.” The 29-year-old notched four front-nine birdies against a single bogey at the par-5, 534-yard 7th. He then birdied three of his first four holes on the back nine to negate a bogey at the par-3, 191-yard 11th. The South Florida PGA Member birdied the par-4, 355-yard 15th and par-5, 514-yard 16th to get to 7-under.

“The Wanamaker is really firm and fast and fiery,” said Collet. “Our game plan, we kind of executed it flawlessly to be honest, other than one bad swing and one bad break, we kind of picked it apart, which was nice. It was nice to feel the pressure. It's been a little bit, so I’m really happy.”

This is Collet’s second opening-round 65 at the PGA Professional Championship, having shot the same score in the first round of the 2022 edition, where he finished T-11.

Collet will look to do it again on Monday as he seeks his fourth PGA Championship appearance.

“We still have a game plan,” said Collet. “We're going to stick to it. We’ll just go out there and have some fun and execute the shots and see what we can do.”

Mueller, the PGA General Manager at Grand Canyon University Golf Course, jumped out to a hot start by birdieing his first five holes, beginning with the par-3, 187-yard 10th. Following a bogey at the par 4, 437-yard 18th, he coupled a pair of birdies on holes three and eight with seven pars to finish at 65.

“I made a really nice putt on the first hole and then I just made five putts in a row from six to 25 feet,” said Mueller. “I putted well all day. Even though I didn't make as many coming in, I was still hitting my lines and almost making them. I had a couple of really nice irons in the front. Being the first round and my biggest event of the year, to start off like that is awesome.”

Avant, a PGA Assistant Golf Professional at Lone Tree Golf Club, was focused on staying patient and hitting the right spots in his PGA Professional Championship debut. He started strong with three birdies over his first six holes after opening with a par on Ryder’s 10th hole. Following back-to-back bogeys on holes 16-17, Avant steadied the ship with five back-nine birdies.

“I had a lot of good iron approaches,” said Avant. “Pretty good numbers actually and made a couple of nice putts. You know there's a lot of trouble that you can get into, but I was extremely disciplined and made sure that I was going to find those spots. I just happened to make a couple of nice putts here and hit a couple close.”

Bensel, the PGA Head Golf Professional at Clubhouse 54, birdied three of his first four holes on the Ryder Course including the par-4, 436-yard 1st. The Philadelphia PGA Member finished with a bang with five back-nine birdies, including three straight on holes 15 through 17.

“Just played solid,” said Bensel. “It wasn't necessarily playing easy out there. I think the wind picked up after my third hole. I hit a lot of good shots, put myself in good spots on the green to make putts and just happened to roll a few in.”

Defending champion Ben Polland (Jackson, Wyo.) is T-40 after posting a 1-under 70 at Ryder on Sunday. 2023 champion Braden Shattuck (Glen Mills, Pa.) is also T-40. He overcame a roller-coaster 5-over-par 40 on his first nine by shooting a crisp 6-under-par 30 on the back.

Darrell Kestner (Glen Cove, N.Y.) registered a first-round score of 8-over-par 79 on Ryder. The PGA Director of Golf at Deepdale Golf Club is playing in his 31st PGA Professional Championship, setting a new Championship record by surpassing Jim White’s previous mark of 30. Kestner also holds the event record for most rounds played, 95.

“It’s like a dream come true to play in this as long as I have,” said Kestner. “It’s the premier golf tournament for the PGA of America. To be here with all of your peers and watch them play, and one thing I enjoy as much or more than anything is watching all my assistants play in it. I had three of them in front of me today and one of them behind me. It was just a lot of fun watching them play and do well and try to further their careers. I enjoy that mentoring part as much as I do still playing.”

Steve Scott (Winston Salem, N.C.) will complete his first round Monday on Wanamaker’s 9th hole at 8:30 a.m. after play was suspended due to darkness. Monday’s second round of the 2025 PGA Professional Championship presented by Club Car, Corebridge Financial and Rolex will be broadcast live on Golf Channel from 3-6 pm (ET). A 36-hole cut will take place Monday evening to the low 90 scorers and ties.

For additional information on the PGA Professional Championship, visit here.