Adrian

Meronk

Meronk is playing on a sponsor’s invite for the second week in a row. He posted a T45 last week at the Genesis Invitational. He now finds himself at 53rd in the OWGR, while the top 50 after this week will be given a spot at THE PLAYERS. " I just need to focus on my game, play well this week, and hopefully it’s enough. I can’t do much more than this, so hopefully it will be enough, and yeah, that would be amazing to play PLAYERS for sure.” Meronk has two DP World Tour wins since July and now he’s hoping to take his talents to the PGA TOUR, on a full-time basis. The 29-year-old from Poland is making his tournament debut this week.

The 29-year-old from Poland spent his college days at East Tennessee State but spends most of his time in Europe on the DP World Tour. He scooped up two wins on that circuit last year including a five-shot win at the Australian Open in December, outdueling Adam Scott to get the job done. Playing on a sponsor’s invite this week, Meronk will look to start racking up some strong finishes in the States. Historically he’s played in just four PGA TOUR events, missing the cut in three of them and posting a T42 at the 2022 Open Championship. The World No. 52 golfer certainly has a lot more potential than what those early results would suggest.

Meronk played alongside 54-hole leader Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee in the final group today. It was Scott that backpedaled to open the door and Meronk walked right through with a closing 66 that included a walk-off eagle, pouring home a long-distance putt from just off the green to cap off his win in style. It was a six-shot swing on the Sunday board as Adam Scott swallowed a closing 72. Meronk’s maiden win came in July at the Irish Open and this one likely feels validating for the 29-year-old. This win will bump him just inside of the top 50 in the OWGR, entering the week at 56th which is/was the best position of his career.

Meronk broke out with a win at the Irish Open just two weeks ago. With such a big win, perhaps a missed cut at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open can be forgiven. He ranks 7th in the DP World Tour Rankings this season and has climbed to 65th in the OWGR. While his season-long form is eye-catching, his lack of experience in the major championships is a knock against him. Meronk has made just one start in a major, missing the cut at last year’s U.S. Open. He will start the week in Game No. 29 alongside HaoTong Li and Marcus Armitage.

The 29-year-old Meronk had been trending toward his career-first title all season, which has included making 11 cuts in 13 starts with six top-10 finishes prior to his win. Three of those were top-five results, including a solo third at the Dutch Open and T-3 finishes at the Qatar Maters and Catalunya Championship. “It’s such a relief, to be honest,” said Meronk afterward. “I’ve been coming quite close a couple of times this year and to finally open the door is just a dream come true. That’s why we practice every day and I’m super happy.” New Zealand’s Ryan Fox finished runner-up for the third time this season, marking his seventh top-10 in 2022. Also of note Sunday at Mount Juliet Estate were three players who earned their spots at St. Andrews through the Open Qualifying Series: Scotland’s David Law, American John Catlin and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti finished T-4 at 15-under 273 to secure their tickets to St Andrews. “It’s a dream come true,” said Law, who will make his major debut at The Open. “I chose not to go to Final Qualifying last week so I could focus on this event and so now that getting a place has happened, I’m over the moon. … Playing in front of those crowds is going to be amazing. I’ve never played a major before so do it at St Andrews for the first time will be unbelievable.” Next week will mark Zanotti’s third appearance in The Open, while Catlin will make his second consecutive event start. Meronk, Fox, Law and Zanotti are in the field for this week’s Scottish Open.

The 28-year-old carded a bogey-free, 4-under 68 on Sunday at Bernardus Golf, qualifying for The 150th Open alongside Dutch Open winner Victor Perez and runner-up Ryan Fox as the top three finishers in the top 10 not already exempt. “I’m super excited,” said Meronk, who notched his sixth top-10 of the season and his fourth in his last five starts. “I still can’t believe it, to be honest. But I’m looking forward already to this great Championship. I can’t tell you how happy I am. I’m sure people supporting me back home, my family, all of them are super happy as well. I can’t wait to tee off at St Andrews, for sure.” Meronk also finished solo sixth at the Soudal Open, and posted back-to-back T-3 finishes at the Qatar Masters and Catalunya Championship. He’s in the field for this week’s Porsche European Open at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg, Germany.

The 28-year-old from Poland came into the final round tied for the 54-hole lead with Englishman Matthew Jordan, but both fell off the pace Sunday, with Meronk carding a 3-over 75 (Jordan shot 76 to finish T-5). “You have to stay patient,” he said after Saturday’s tough conditions translated to a an even-par 72. “You’re going to hit some bad shots, some really bad shots, and you just have to accept it and stay patient.” Meronk carded two double bogeys and two bogeys during his round, which he offset with just three birdies, and finished at 5-under 283 -- two strokes behind first-time winner Ewen Ferguson of Scotland. Regular-season DPWT action will break until after the Masters (April 7-10) and will resume with the ISPS Handa Championship in Spain, April 21-24.

He missed the cut at Torrey Pines, but kept forging ahead in the history books as he became the first to Pole to appear at the DP World Tour Championship (T-32) and the first – and only – player from Poland to compete in the Tokyo Olympics golf competition (T-51). “When I found out golf is coming back to the Olympics, that immediately was one of my goals to represent Poland,” he said. “When people see golf in the Olympics, it will be a huge factor. It’s going to be a positive thing. There’s still a stereotype in Poland that golf is only for the wealthy, that it’s not a sport. If they see me on TV playing in the Olympics, that will help, for sure. I’ll try my best to grow golf as big as possible.” Meronk made 15 cuts in 22 starts on the DP World Tour, 39th in the Race to Dubai, with four top 10s including a T-2 at the Italian Open and two third-place finishes at the Tenerife Open and British Masters.

The 28-year-old Meronk carded a 5-under 66 on Sunday at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, site of the 2023 Ryder Cup, to finish at 12-under 272, tied for second with England’s Tommy Fleetwood, one shot behind winner Nicolai Hojgaard. After dropping a stroke with a bogey at the 10th, he rebounded with an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch en route to a 33 on the back. “It was really solid, a lot of quality shots. I’m very happy with my performance,” said Meronk, who has one win on the Challenge Tour. “Obviously a little bit gutted that I didn’t hole that putt on 18 but still a great result. I’ve been close (to winning) a couple of times already. It’s been the same story on the Challenge Tour when I played there -- I was knocking quite a bit and finally got my win. So I believe I can do it. I’ll just keep doing my job, keep believing and hopefully it will happen.” On the season, Meronk has made 11 cuts in 16 starts with two other podium finishes. He was T-3 at the Tenerife Open and also T-3 at the Betfred British Masters. This week will mark his tournament debut in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the third Rolex Series event of the year.