Dubai resident Adrian Meronk was left ‘shocked, sad and angry’ after not being one of Luke Donald’s six Captain’s Picks for Ryder Cup Team Europe.
The Pole has won 3 times over the last 15 months, including a victory at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club – home of this year’s edition, and is currently ranked third in the Race to Dubai Rankings, only behind Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
With that form in mind and being ranked fifth on the European qualification list, Meronk was one of the hot favourites to receive a pick, but Donald instead opted for Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose, Ludvig Åberg and Nicolai Højgaard.
“It’s been an emotional time for me to be honest, from shock to sadness to anger and now I’m trying to turn it into motivation going into this week,” said Meronk.
“Obviously it’s a hard one to swallow, I thought I’d done enough to be on that team but it is what it is, I wish them good luck and I will just focus on my game and move forward.
Good luck @RyderCupEurope
— Adrian Meronk (@AdrianMeronk) September 4, 2023
“I was expecting a call because they told me they were going to call regardless and I was in quite a good mood to be honest. I was on the train coming from Switzerland, I’d had a nice finish and I was in shock.
“I heard from him (Donald) that it was tough for him as well but to be honest when he said I’m not going I kind of stopped listening. He was saying that someone has to stay home, it was close and stuff like that. I wouldn’t want to be in his position but it was a big shock.
“On Monday, the first half of the day was just sadness and disbelief and then anger because the last year and a half I spent a lot of time thinking about this and that was my goal. Suddenly I was just realising it’s not going to happen this year.
“I talked to my parents, my psychologist, my coach and they have all been quite supportive and a lot of players on tour, coaches and caddies have all been very supportive, texting me, calling me.”
Meronk was speaking ahead of his defence of the Horizon Irish Open, where he is paired with Rory McIlory and Billy Horschel for the first two rounds.
