Adrian Meronk earned a couple of nice parting gifts last week in Dubai after having been overlooked for Europe’s Ryder Cup team late last year.
On Tuesday, Meronk was named the 2022-23 player of the year on the DP World Tour in a vote of his peers, the tour announced. Meronk, 30, of Poland, won three times last season, including the Italian Open at Ryder Cup site Marco Simone, and placed fourth on the tour’s Race to Dubai season standings. In the Ryder Cup race, he finished fifth on the European points list and 11th on the world points list, failing to earn one of the six qualifying spots for the biennial match against the Americans.
When European captain Luke Donald bypassed Meronk for one of the six at-large picks, the Pole vented his displeasure, calling the snub “shocking.” Europe won the match, 16½-11½.
Meronk accepted the POY award, named in honor of the late Seve Ballesteros and presented by his son Javier, in Dubai during the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
“It feels amazing,” Meronk said. “I’m shocked, to be honest. I didn’t expect that. Last year was the best season so far in my career. I’m really happy that other players saw that, as well.”
On Sunday, Meronk showed his peers once again why he merited their votes. He finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Meronk closed with a 1-under 71 at Emirates Golf Club, his fourth under-par round of the week, to finish at 13-under 275, one stroke behind McIlroy, a four-time winner of the Dubai Desert Classic. It was the third consecutive top-10 result on the tour for Meronk, who entered the week at No. 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and it was worth €909,791.19, or about $990,500.
American Cameron Young started the final round with a two-shot lead on McIlroy and Meronk but coughed it up with a pair of front-nine bogeys en route to a 2-over 74 that left him with a third-place finish at 12-under.
Steve Harmon