ADRIAN MERONK COMES TO WORLD TOUR WITH ANOTHER RYDER CUP WIN
Adrian Meronc has bounced back from Ryder Cup pain to record his fourth DP World Tour title since July 2022.
Adrian Meronc could have been forgiven for taking a break after being denied selection for Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup squad last month, but the giant dusted himself off and bounced back to win his fourth DP World Tour title in Andalusia.
I went into action.
Master in Spain.
Meronc, 30, shot a 6-over 66 in the second round to finish at 16 under, one shot behind Germany’s Matti Schmidt.
Paul started the final round four shots behind and dropped six after two bogeys in the first three holes.
However, Meronk showed a remarkable recovery after that with an eagle on the par-5 6th hole and an eagle on the par-4 9th hole.
He then birdied 10, 12 and 14 to surge into contention before landing the hammer blow when converting a 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th.
That gave him the outright lead for the first time all week.
Meronk split the 18th fairway and then found the middle of the green with his approach shot before two-putting for par.
Schmid in the group behind needed to make a birdie on the 18th to force a playoff but the German could only make par.
England’s Richard Mansell had every chance to match Meronk down the closing stretch but a bogey on the 17th saw him come up two strokes shy in solo third.
Meronk was shunned a pick in Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team last month when many had considered he was a lock for one of the six picks.
It hurt Meronk, especially having won the Italian Open earlier in the season at Marco Simone, venue of the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Meronk admitted to not even being able to watch the Ryder Cup as a result of his rejection.
Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard were handed Donald’s six picks, with many considering the latter was the player that got in over Meronk.
As it turned out, Europe won the Ryder Cup 16.5-11.5 at Marco Simone.
But fast forward some six weeks and Meronk channeled that disappointment to land a fourth DP World Tour title since July 2022.
It also marks his third win of the season and he vaults to third in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings behind Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
Meronk, who won his maiden title at the 2022 Irish Open, also won the Australian Open and Italian Open earlier this season.
When pressed by Sky’s Josh Antmann if he thinks the win has proven some Ryder Cup doubters wrong, Meronk replied:
“Well I hope I have proved people wrong, just glad all the talk about Ryder Cup is now over. I can just focus on my game and keep going forward. Whoever doubted me, doubted me. I hope I have proved them wrong.”
Andalucia Masters Final Leaderboard
-16 A Meronk (Pol)
-15 M Schmid (Ger)
-14 R Mansell (Eng)
-13 L de Jager (SA), C Hanna (US
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