Adrian Meronk is used to collecting firsts. He was the first golfer from Poland to win on the DP World Tour (2022 Irish Open) and to play in the Masters (2023). He almost became the first from his central European nation to play in a Ryder Cup. Despite winning at the 2023 Italian Open at the Ryder Cup host course in Rome four months before the event, he neither qualified for Luke Donald’s team nor received a captain’s pick.

On Saturday, at LIV Golf’s season opener in Saudi Arabia, Meronk became the winner of the first known men’s professional golf tournament held completely under lights when he dominated LIV Golf Riyadh in wire-to-wire fashion. The 31-year-old carded rounds of 62, 66 and 71 to finish at 17 under for three rounds, with two-time major winner Jon Rahm and Sebastian Muñoz sharing second at 15 under.

“It’s super special,” Meronk, who plays on Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks GC team, said of his maiden victory on LIV since joining in 2024. “I was nervous all day. I played quite good in the beginning, then the last couple holes [were] a battle for me but I’m super happy that I crossed the line.”

Those struggles invited Rahm, Munoz, Lucas Herbert (T-4), and T-6 finishers Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau back into contention on the final day. After four-time DP World Tour winner Meronk started the day with a two-shot lead, he made birdies at Nos. 1 and 8 to hold a four-shot advantage at one stage.

Then disaster struck. He made bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11 before a truly vicious, horseshoe lip-out for birdie at No.13.

“I felt in control after nine holes, but after I missed a short one on the 10th for par, that’s where kind of the nerves started,” Meronk said. “Then I made another bogey and that lip-out on 13 was just so ugly. But it happens.”

But a towering short iron from 167 yards that settled to four feet on the par-4 16th allowed the 6-foot-6 Meronk some breathing room down the last two holes.

He collected the biggest winner’s check of his career—$4 million for individual first place. In the team competition, Rahm’s Legion XIII, with includes Hatton, new LIV recruit Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt, won by 11 shots at 50 under. LIV changed the format for the team component so that all four players’ scores counted for every round. It was Legion XIII’s fifth team victory since joining as an expansion team last season.

Meronk’s win aside, the most compelling element of LIV Golf’s season-opening event in Riyadh—which was up against the WM Phoenix Open, one of the most talked-about tournaments in world golf—was that it was the first tournament held under lights. The field teed off just after 6 p.m. local each of the three rounds. While the Ladies European Tour for two years held the Dubai Moonlight Classic, it was only partially played under lights.

LIV embraced the night carvinal atmosphere by introducing The Boulevard, a futuristic fan village with amusement rides, virtual reality golf games, e-sports activations and performers. Lasers and lights beamed from the fan area around the course and LIV’s signature music was pumping during play and could be seen and heard on the broadcast.

After the second round, ’90s boy band Backstreet Boy headlined the post-round entertainment. While the look and feel was certainly different, LIV sure leaned into its modern take on golf tournaments.

“I really enjoyed it; I think it was a great setup,” Meronk said. “The lights were bright enough. We managed to see the ball quite well, even in the desert sometimes. I think we can definitely keep doing that and maybe add one more somewhere else.”

That created interesting storylines around how LIV’s players prepared for the challenges of depth perception, shadows, and temperature changes. For Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open champion and 2023 Masters champion, he played a par 3 course near Scottsdale. “Luckily we have Grass Clippings, a par 3 course that is lit at night, so I got a couple rounds before coming here in very cold weather,” said Rahm.

For the Dubai-based players such as Meronk and McKibbin, there were plenty of options. McKibbin, who turned down one of 10 PGA Tour promotions from the DP World Tour to join LIV this season, plays at Trump International Dubai. That boasts a fully lit, Gil Hanse-designed par-3 course and an LED-lit back nine on its championship course.

“I think I prepared well for this tournament, playing a few rounds in Dubai, night golf, because you have to get used to the shadows, the lighting, the perception is a little bit different, especially around the greens and on the greens, reading the greens,” Meronk said.

“I like changes. I like new things.”

While LIV’s offseason was lean—McKibbin was the only notable signing—the league enjoyed a massive boost on the eve of LIV Golf Riyadh when the United States Golf Association announced it would become the first major championship to award a direct pathway from LIV to the U.S. Open. One player in the top of three (not already exempt) of its points standings leading up to Oakmont Country Club in June will earn a spot in the championship.

The USGA also announced that the top 10 LIV players in April will bypass local qualifying and instead earn direct spots into final 36-hole qualifying. Next year, the exemption for LIV’s leading points earners will extent to two spots. Soon after, The Telegraph in the U.K. reported the Open Championship would also offer LIV spots in the links major.

Naturally, Meronk leapt to the top of the LIV standings with 40 points for his Riyadh win.

In the past, LIV’s biggest criticism about the majors was, despite having stars on the roster such as Rahm, DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, there was no context to their league wins. Now, there is an opportunity for a non-exempt player to earn a pathway to two majors from LIV’s standings.

“It’s very important, yeah,” Meronk said. “[The U.S. Open] is going to be on my goal list for sure. I’m going to focus on that, just to keep going, keep playing good golf, and hopefully I can get a spot.”

Main Image: FAYEZ NURELDINE