It was, he says now, “definitely the hardest decision of my life.”
And no wonder. When, last February, LIV Golf gave Adrian Meronk two days to make up his mind about the sizeable financial offer placed on the lanky Pole’s table, he had not long completed a DP World Tour season in which he finished top of the table that identified the 10 men who would be offered PGA Tour cards for 2025. That status would have allowed the 31-year-old to play whenever and wherever he wanted to on what, for long enough, was the most lucrative circuit on the planet. So it was a lot to give up.
Not helping the decision-making process is that the offer came when Meronk was marooned with a high fever in a San Diego hotel room, in the days before the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines.
“I couldn’t eat for a week,” he says with a shudder on the eve of this week’s DP World Tour Championship. “I felt worse than I ever had before. I had such a fever. But it was then or maybe never. It was one week before the first LIV event in Mexico. I talked to my manager, my family and my friends. They all played a part, and we ended up making the decision as one. We figured LIV would be most beneficial to my well-being and the well-being of my family. I know I did the right thing. I’ve played some good golf. I’ve learned some new things.”
Which is not to say the debate was not lively. But, in the end, Poland’s greatest-ever golfer (not the highest bar) opted to join the breakaway tour.
“I made my decision based on a few factors,” Meronk says. “One was my desire to play less and enjoy my life a bit more. Last year I was so tired at the end of what had been the best season of my career. But I had no time to enjoy anything because I had to go to Australia to defend my Australian Open title. I remember thinking how nice it would be to play fewer tournaments. So that was maybe the main reason behind my design to join LIV.
“There were financial reasons as well,” he acknowledges. “It would be silly to deny that. I would be lying if I said otherwise. And I can’t imagine anyone would take me seriously if I did. But I have enjoyed being part of the team and travelling together. It has been a lot more entertaining and reminds me of my time at East Tennessee State. It has been nice to have that support system around me. Being from Poland, I found the PGA Tour to be a lonely place at times.”
There was also the little matter of the Ryder Cup. Controversially omitted by the European captain Luke Donald for the 2023 matches in Italy, Meronk took stock.
“Not making the Ryder Cup team definitely opened my eyes to the fact that I need to focus on myself, my career, my game and my life,” he says. “I realized that the Ryder Cup is not the most important thing in the world. I would love to play, and if I perform well enough next year I could qualify. But it’s not my priority. Before the last match it was all I thought about. I was checking the rankings every week.”
Adrian Meronk hoped he had proven worthy of making the European Ryder Cup team when playing in front of Luke Donald at team events like the Hero Cup. Meronk says he hasn’t had a true conversation with Donald since being left off the 2023 European team. Oisin Keniry
Meronk says he got a lot of messages from other players after he wasn’t picked. “It was tough to take, especially after the year I had,” he said. “But I accepted it. Maybe it was a good decision. The team did well. Of course, you can get away with anything if you win. But I’ve moved on. I hope I will have other opportunities to qualify.”
Such diplomacy and common sense fail to disguise a lingering sense that Meronk was hard done by. Many think he should have been a sure-thing selection on a Marco Simone course where he had won an Italian Open. Certainly, he and Donald have yet to reach out to heal a working relationship best described as “cool.”
In January this year Meronk was on the range preparing for the Dubai Invitational when Donald appeared. En route to the spot he took up right next to Meronk, the Englishman indulged in much glad-handing and hugs with a procession of fellow players. But not with Meronk. When Donald arrived at his practice station only a few yards away, neither a word nor a glance passed between the two.
It is a situation that seems to be unchanged. Meronk isn’t specific, but it is clear that the pair have yet to speak in the intervening ten months. There is, however, that desire to move on. Similar to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have done, Meronk has appealed the suspensions and fines he has incurred by moving to LIV and so is able, for the moment, to compete in DP World Tour events. And armed with a new swing coach in Abu Dhabi-based Belgian Jerome Theunis, the Meronk has other priorities in 2025. Both for himself and the currently complex world of professional golf.
Among the high points of 2024 for Meronk is winning a team time with the Cleeks at the LIV Golf Houston event in June. Tim Warner
“I would love to see some sort of cooperation between the tours,” Meronk says. “All the fines and not having proper World Rankings makes no sense. I don’t even look at the rankings anymore. But, on the other hand, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the PGA Tour went its own way and everyone else got together and created a world-wide tour everywhere except the United States. I like that idea. It would be awesome. The Asian Tour is flourishing right now, so maybe that will happen.
Still, Meronk says LIV will be his main focus in 2025. “I have enjoyed my time there on the Cleeks team. The competition is strong, especially at the top end. To finish in the top 10, you have to play very good golf. I played just OK this year and finished only 18th [with earning just short of $5.5 million] on the money list. But I certainly have no regrets about the decision I made.”
Main Image: LIV Golf
