Adrian Meronk has revealed he gave LIV Golf’s Richard Bland a call the day after being snubbed for Ryder Cup selection to find out what life was like on the breakaway circuit.
The Dubai resident was one of the heavy favourites to secure one of Luke Donald’s six Captain’s Picks for the 2023 edition of the biennial contest, having won twice during the qualification period, including victory at the home of last year’s Ryder Cup – Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
But he was astonishingly overlooked, with Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Hojgaard, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka all chosen ahead the Pole when Donald announced his picks in September last year.
Europe would later go on to win the contest by a 16.5-11.5 margin.
Earlier this month, Meronk confirmed to The Telegraph that his snub from the Ryder Cup team was a major reason for joining LIV Golf a few weeks ago, but has now admitted in an exclusive chat with Gulf News that the process of joining the Saudi-backed circuit all started with a call the day after Donald revealed his team.
“To be honest, when I wasn't picked for the Ryder Cup, something inside me switched and I kind of decided to focus on myself,” said Meronk ahead of LIV Golf Jeddah at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
“One day after the announcement of the team, I reached out to Richard Bland to ask him how LIV Golf was and if he was enjoying it. Moving there was in the back of my mind then, but we didn’t have any offers or big plans. I was ready to go and play in the U.S.”
Meronk eventually switched to the circuit earlier this month, shortly after being named the DP World Tour’s Player of the Year, with the 30-year-old joining the Cleeks GC team alongside Martin Kaymer, Kalle Samooja and Bland.
DP World Tour hopes
The four-time DP World Tour winner is currently ranked 50th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and has secured a spot in all four Major Championships in 2024, but that ranking will soon fall rapidly with LIV Golf events not providing any OWGR points, despite the league’s efforts to get them.
“I’d actually like to play two to three DP World Tour events at the end of the year once the LIV Golf calendar has finished to get some OWGR points,” said Meronk, who will receive a fine and a suspension every time he plays a LIV Golf event that competes with a DP World Tour tournament as he is still a member of the latter.
“It’s all a bit complicated right now with the fines, I don’t know the full details to be honest.”
For now, Meronk has his sights fully set on an impressive outing this week, with the Polish star playing a LIV Golf event fully fit for the first time this year after illness hampered his performance in the opening two events in Mexico and Las Vegas.
This will be his second outing at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, having finished in a share of 27th at the 2020 Saudi International on the DP World Tour before his return in 2021 saw him test positive for covid, which led to him missing the event and spending 18 days in isolation.
This time around, there will be no lonely nights in a Jeddah hotel room. Instead, he’ll be busy in the evenings catching up with his new “family.”
“I’ve had such an amazing welcome from everyone, it’s like a big family,” said Meronk.
“I would say around 80% of the players came up to me on my first day to congratulate me and welcome me. Our team spends a lot of time together and we try to travel together, which I really like.
“It’s very different from the DP World Tour, but I love being part of a team. There were many times before where I was travelling on my own, sitting in my hotel room ordering room service – it was just lonely.
“Here, LIV Golf’s staff and all the players feel like one big family.”
LIV Golf Jeddah gets underway on March 1.
