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PGA club pro Michael Block speaks about slam dunk hole-in-one at PGA Championship

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — All eyes were on an unlikely hero at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, over the weekend where a California golf pro made history at the PGA Championship with his hole-in-one during the final round.

Michael Block, 46, slam dunked his shot off the 15th tee alongside Rory McIlroy, who hugged him and had to assure him it really went right in the hole.

“That’s a brutal hole because you can’t miss it right or left. Rory had just gone right before me and got a horrible kick, was in a really tough position,” Block told ABC News’ Good Morning America, reflecting on the tee shot less than 24 hours later. “I knew I had to hit a pretty good shot there.”

He continued, “I didn’t see it go in and all of a sudden Rory turns around and he starts walking back at me with his arms open to give me a hug. I’m like, ‘Why in the world is Rory McIlroy giving me a hug right now — did it go in?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, Block, it went in!’ I couldn’t believe it. To have it happen under those circumstances, coming down the stretch on the back nine on a Sunday in the PGA Championship with Rory McIlroy was an experience I’ll never have again in my life and I’m gonna enjoy it.”

He added that the force of the ball “blew up the hole,” making it difficult to pull out initially.

“The hole got just absolutely destroyed. The ball went directly in, it flew in the front of the cup, it never bounced or hit the pin or anything,” Block said. “We had to take about five minutes. Rules officials had to come over. We had to get it fixed — I have never had it happen like that in my life. It was crazy.”

He became the first PGA club pro to make a hole-in-one at the PGA Championship since George Bowman in 1996, according to ESPN.

Fans at Block’s hometown Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, where he teaches lessons, erupted in cheers as the crowds on the course boomed with excitement.

“The support that I have from Arroyo — the management there has also allowed me to get out and play. And to be able to work on my game. I have got a great position — I’m very, very lucky,” he said. “I think I have got the best job in golf where I can come out and still play with the best players in the world, yet at the same time I can be at my house most of the time and have a steady job and steady pay check where I don’t have to play golf to make a living.”

Block sat tied for eighth going into Sunday’s round, just six shots back from four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, and finished out his fairytale week with a final putt for par. The par save clinched a tie for 15th and gave him automatic entry into the 2024 PGA Championship.

“We were literally walking down fairways pinching ourselves,” Block said of his weekend with caddie John Jackson. “I’m paired with Justin Rose on Saturday and Rory on Sunday. The crowd’s just huge here in Rochester. Fans were amazing. Rory is walking ahead of us and I looked at my caddie and said, ‘Is this even real?'”

Three holes after his remarkable ace, Block needed to make par on 18 to finish 15th and automatically qualify for next year’s tournament.

“I honestly didn’t know what it was for,” he said of his final putt to close the day. “I didn’t know where I was in position. I said I was not going to look at the scoreboards, even though they are all over the place and huge. … I would not have made the putt if I knew. I’m happy with the fact that I didn’t know.”

Block sank the putt to finish with a 1-over 71 on Sunday and 1-over for the tournament.

In the 105 years of the PGA Championship, no PGA professional has ever finished inside the top 10. In 2005, Steve Schneiter was the last PGA pro to finish inside the top-40 at the tournament.

Earlier in the week, Block was already the talk of Twitter, as the only PGA professional to make the cut out of the 20 who qualified to play.

Koepka, who defected from the PGA to play for the rival Saudi-backed LIV Tour, took home his fifth major win.

“He walked off of 18 green, I was walking towards 18 — [Koepka] told me that the first round [of drinks] was on me after that hole-in-one. He gave me a big hug,” Block said. “I am very thrilled to be able to stand next to him during the final ceremony.”

In addition to qualifying for next year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, Block also received a sponsor exemption to play in next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Block told GMA his biggest takeaway after this tournament is “you gotta be yourself.”

“You play your best when you try to be just yourself. Don’t try to be a tour pro. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not,” he encouraged. “That’s what I have been doing and it’s really helped my game a ton. It’s made the hole bigger.”

Block continued, “I have always lived my whole life to where I want that hole to look as big as possible. Thank goodness this week at Oak Hill, it looked huge.”

‘The Little Mermaid’ filmmakers talk putting a modern spin on the timeless tale

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The Little Mermaid swims back into theaters this weekend, this time as a live action version of the 1989 classic animated Disney musical.

Rob Marshall directed the new film, and he tells ABC Audio that the original Hans Christian Andersen story from the 1830s surprisingly has a lot to say about life in the 2020s.

“When we went back and looked at this tale, we saw this incredibly modern story of a girl who feels displaced, who doesn’t feel she fits in and wants to sort of break the boundaries and break the sort of taboo of going to see what another life is like in another world,” he explains.

Even with similarities, executive producer John DeLuca says they did feel they needed to make some changes.

“It was very important for us to make Ariel’s quest for going…above the surface, not just for a love of a handsome man, but to be part of that world, to learn,” DeLuca shares.

The Little Mermaid soundtrack also gets a little update with composer Alan Menken, who wrote the music for the original, creating three new songs for the new film with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It’s a partnership that Menken says was “really delightful.”

“I know both of us are the kind of people who will just keep writing and writing and writing till we write something that’s fantastic,” Menken expressed.

There were also some lyrical changes to the classic songs this time around, which Menken was “totally open” to do.

“There were cuts made sometimes just for dramaturgical reasons in this, and sometimes it was just to remedy something that might just need adjusting for the times,” he clarified. “As long as it doesn’t at all damage the basic quality of the song, I’m totally open to that.”

Pete Brown, co-writer of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room,” dies at 82

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Songwriter and poet Pete Brown, best known for co-writing “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room” for Cream in the 1960s, died of cancer on Friday, May 19 at the age of 82.

A post on Brown’s Facebook page read, “Pete was known to repeat the mantra ‘I come from a long line of worriers, not warriors.’ One of his other favorite expressions passed down from [British poet] Spike Hawkins was, ‘That’s life — up one minute, down the next twenty-five years.'”

In continued, “Despite his tendency towards Jewish pessimism, he lived the life of a warrior poet. He was proudly anti-establishment, and dedicated his life to his creative endeavors, in an uncompromising way.”

Inspired by U.S. beat poets, Brown began writing poetry in 1955. He was approached by Cream drummer Ginger Baker to write lyrics for the supergroup, which also featured guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce.

Brown also helped write the group’s song “I Feel Free,” and continued to write songs with Bruce more than four decades after Cream broke up.

He continued working until the end, collaborating with Joe Bonamassa on the album Royal Tea and, most recently, on the final mixes of a new album, Shadow Club, featuring guest performances from Clapton and Bonamassa.

Brown was featured in two documentary films: White Rooms and Imaginary Westerns, a loose adaptation of his autobiography, and The Cream Acoustic Sessions, a documentary on the re-working of many Cream songs. An accompanying album, Heavenly Cream, is due for release later this year.

Nick Cannon reveals the child he spends the most time with

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Nick Cannon is pulling back the curtain on how he manages to balance his fatherly duties.

While the host of The Masked Singer ensures he divides his time among all his kids, he shared that he currently spends the most time with his 8-month-old daughter Onyx, who he shares with LaNisha Cole.

“My beautiful daughter Onyx, that’s probably the child that I spend the most time with, really,” Cannon said during Friday’s episode of The Jason Lee Podcast. “I’m with her at least three times a week, for the full day.”

He continued, “LaNisha and I have a super strong understanding and our co-parenting operation is so solid. If you see me on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, my daughter’s right next to me.”

“Not against all my other kids because all my other kids, they’re in school, they’re babies, as well as Onyx, but the fact that I appreciate that LaNisha gives me the respect enough to allow me to have her really, an equal amount of time as she does,” Cannon added.

In addition to Onyx, Nick shares twins Moroccan and Monroe with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey; daughter Beautiful Zeppelin and twin sons Zion and Zillion with Abby De La Rosa; son Legendary with model Bre Tiesi; sons Rise Messiah and Golden Sagon, and daughter Powerful Queen with model Brittany Bell; daughter Halo with Alyssa Scott. Nick and Alyssa lost their first child together, baby Zen, to a brain tumor in December of 2021.

In Brief: Kiefer Sutherland reports for ‘Juror’ duty for Eastwood, and more

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Deadline reports that Jena Malone, Terrence Howard, Tom Everett Scott and Christopher Lloyd are set to start filming the supernatural thriller The Movers. The plot follows a family that moves into a seemingly charming neighborhood, only to discover that things are not as they seem…

Kiefer Sutherland has joined Nicholas Hoult in the Clint Eastwood-helmed legal thriller Juror No. 2, from Warner Bros., according to The Hollywood Reporter. Toni Collette and Zoey Deutch are also on board for the film that centers on “family man Justin Kemp — played by Hoult — who, while serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma… one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict — or free — the wrong killer,” per the studio. The film is set to start shooting this summer…

Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne and Outlander‘s Caitríona Balfe are joining Rami Malek in the 20th Century thriller Amateur, according to Deadline. The plot, per the outlet, follows “a CIA cryptographer who, after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, demands his bosses go after them. When it becomes clear they won’t act due to conflicting internal priorities, he blackmails the agency into training him and letting him go after them himself.” 20th Century Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

Miley Cyrus has no “desire” to tour: “There’s no connection”

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Don’t hold your breath, folks, because Miley Cyrus might not be hitting the road anytime soon to support her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation.

In a recent interview with British Vogue, the 30-year-old superstar revealed that the tour life isn’t the life for her.

After sharing that she enjoys performing in more intimate settings for close friends and family, Miley said, “Like singing for hundreds of thousands of people isn’t really the thing that I love. There’s no connection. There’s no safety.”

“It’s also not natural,” she adds. “It’s so isolating because if you’re in front of 100,000 people then you are alone.”

It’s been a while since Miley’s last headline arena show, and she’s got some serious introspection going on.

The “Flowers” singer pondered, “After the last [headlining arena] show I did [in 2014], I kind of looked at it as more of a question. And I can’t. Not only ‘can’t’ because can’t is your capability, but my desire. Do I want to live my life for anyone else’s pleasure or fulfillment other than my own?”

Ukraine’s eastern frontlines shifting ahead of major offensive

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(SLOVYANSK, Ukraine) — The frontlines in eastern Ukraine are shifting in significant ways, with Russia and Ukraine carrying out offensive operations in and around Bakhmut.

Russian forces inside the city have made further advances and claim to have full control of every district.

Ukraine claims its forces are still fighting in a small area in the western fringe of the city.

Meanwhile, the situation outside Bakhmut is dynamic, with Ukrainian forces reporting a counteroffensive to the north and south of the city.

ABC News was allowed inside a military command center this weekend at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine.

Our team watched multiple screens showing live drone feeds down onto the battlefield in eastern Ukraine as a Ukrainian counteroffensive played out in real time near Bakhmut.

Ukrainian soldiers could be seen clearing Russian positions. Dead Russian soldiers were also visible on one of several live video feeds, which are monitored by Ukrainian soldiers.

That operation, which took place on Saturday morning, was one of a series of assaults by Ukrainian forces near Bakhmut in recent days.

Crucially, Ukraine claims it has taken control of higher ground near the city, which could give an important advantage for further attacks.

A Ukrainian commander whose battalion spearheaded an operation south of Bakhmut last week promised there would be more offensive action soon in the area.

The officer, who goes by his callsign “Rolo,” commands as many as 700 men in the 1st Assault Battalion of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, which has been operating in and around Bakhmut for several months.

He told ABC News his men stormed Russian positions early in the morning last Wednesday, claiming that, by Thursday, his men had taken half a square mile of land and killed around 50 Russian soldiers. ABC News cannot verify his claims.

“We outplayed them,” he said in an interview in a basement in eastern Ukraine.

The commander would not comment on whether the Ukrainian operation near Bakhmut was the precursor to a more significant counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.

“Small steps lead to big results,” he said with a smile.

“If you ask me, should we expect more? Yes, we should. If you ask me where, that’s confidential. But you shall see it,” the commander said, adding that new Western weaponry was filtering through to the battlefield.

“We have the initiate now. We dictate the rules,” he boasted. “Now the enemy has to adjust to what we’re doing and act according to our actions.”

ABC News was also shown two US-supplied M113 armored personnel carriers which were badly damaged. According to Ukraine’s 1st Assault Brigade they were used in the operation on Wednesday and Thursday to the south of Bakhmut.

Back at the military command center hidden in a nondescript building in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas, the drone feed showed smoke rising over Bakhmut.

ABC News was unable to spot a building in the city on the live video feed which had not been badly damaged.

Most of the drones feeding the live frontline images back to the screens monitored by soldiers at the command center were commercial drones which can be purchased online, although many of the commercial drones are modified to carry and drop grenades.

The commander at the center, from Ukraine’s Adam Tactical Group, Yevhen Mezhevikin, said Ukrainian forces “in every direction” along the frontline were ready to go on a major counteroffensive “at any moment.”

Speculating that the directions of a future Ukrainian counteroffensive had “already been chosen” by top Ukrainian generals, but were still being kept top secret, he said he was confident about Ukraine’s chances.

He told ABC News that Ukrainian troops experienced successful counteroffensives earlier in the war, and argued that would give them an important edge.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to break through enemy defenses on the frontline and the enemy will have no success,” he said in an interview.

Medics prepare ahead of expected counteroffensive

Doctors and medics at a military field hospital in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas are also preparing for an inevitable spike in casualties when Ukraine launches a larger offensive.

“It is going to be difficult and we’re going to have [an increase in] casualties,” Dr. Oleh Tokarchuk, the lead doctor at the military medical facility, near to the frontlines, told ABC News.

“We’re going to be losing our loved ones and friends but I believe we will be able to make it,” he said.

Four wounded soldiers were brought back from frontline positions in military ambulances to receive treatment at the field hospital, in the roughly 90-minute period ABC News was there.

The soldiers were, according to medics, part of a tank crew which had been hit by Russian artillery.

One of the men had a serious shrapnel wound to his leg. Another, Vasily, who did not give his surname, had a minor injury to his arm.

“An artillery shell landed, some of us tried to take cover, some didn’t,” he said, looking visibly shaken but promising to return to the frontlines once he has recovered.

Tokarchuk said the number of casualties arriving at his facility had significantly reduced since the early months of this year when Russia captured the town of Soledar, near to Bakhmut.

However, he said, his team were ready and prepared for that to change once a major Ukrainian counteroffensive gets underway.

“This is not rocket science,” said Oleh Pankiv, a volunteer at the hospital who helps evacuate medical casualties away from the battle zone.

“When you have assault operations, you will always have many more injured people. But what can we do?” he asked.

“We need to stand our ground. We need to fight against the aggressor. And of course, we need to defend our country,” he added.

Idaho college murder suspect Bryan Kohberger expected to be arraigned

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of killing four Idaho college students in an early morning attack, is expected on Monday to appear for an arraignment.

Kohberger, 28, is expected to enter a plea when he appears in court in Moscow, Idaho, on Monday. His hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. local time, according to court records.

He was indicted last week on charges that included four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, according to the documents filed in Latah County District Court.

Prosecutors allege that Kohberger, a Ph.D. student at Washington State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology, broke into a house where six University of Idaho students were staying early on Nov. 13, 2022.

He is alleged to have killed Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. Two other students who were in the house at the time survived and were not treated as suspects.

In the months since the murders, prosecutors have laid out evidence that included Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra allegedly passing by the victims’ house several times prior to the murders, according to court documents.

The suspect’s cellphone had been on route to Moscow, but was turned off from 2:47 a.m. to 4:48 a.m., a timeframe during which the murders were committed, police said.

DNA matching Kohberger’s was found on a knife sheath left on one of the victim’s beds, officials said.

Kohberger, who is from Pennsylvania, drove across the country after the end of the semester. He was arrested on Dec. 30 at his parents’ home in the Pocono Mountains. He agreed to be extradited to Idaho in early January.

Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, who represented Kohberger in the extradition hearing, said in a statement at the time that his client “is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”

Heat, Nuggets both one game away from NBA Finals

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are both just one game away from heading to the NBA Finals.

The Heat beat the Boston Celtics 128-102 in Game 3 of the East Finals Sunday night to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets took a 3-0 lead in the West Finals after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 119-108 Saturday night.

The Nuggets will have a chance to advance to the Finals on Monday night when they face off against the Lakers in Los Angeles for Game 4.

The Heat will get their shot at advancing on Tuesday during Game 4 in Miami.

Inmate tunnels through wall, stabs man in neighboring cell, prison officials say

May 22, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Kavian Thomas, a man currently incarcerated at Rice Street jail in Fulton County, Georgia, dug a hole in a shower wall, granting him access to the adjacent cell block, where he allegedly launched an attack on Derondney Russell, on May 17, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Thomas allegedly stabbed Russell multiple times once he tunneled through the wall and into Russell’s cell, the sheriff’s office said in a press release Thursday.

Russell sustained “superficial stab wounds to his upper body” and was treated in the medical unit of the jail for his injuries, officials said.

After the incident, officers checked both cells and discovered several weapons in both cells, some made “from parts of the dilapidated building infrastructure” according to the release.

“This jail has clearly outlived its useful life,” interim Fulton County Jail commander Curtis Clark said in the press release. “That reality makes it even more challenging for us to do our job providing the safest possible environment, not only for staff but for the inmates as well.”

The sheriff’s office said Thomas will face additional criminal charges for the attack.

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