Adrian Meronk in 'disbelief' as Luke Donald snubs him in Ryder Cup captain's picks for Team Europe
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Updated 06/09/2023 at 17:10 GMT
Adrian Meronk has admitted he was left "shocked and angry" when he learned he had not been picked to play at the Ryder Cup. Despite enjoying a successful year, Team Europe captain Luke Donald did not select Meronk as one of his captain's picks. The Pole says he will try to use his disappointment as motivation to defend his Irish Open title this week.
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Adrian Meronk has admitted he was “shocked” and “angry” not to be included as one of Luke Donald’s captain's picks for the Ryder Cup in Rome.
Team Europe are looking to avenge their defeat to the United States in the Ryder Cup two years ago, but they will look to do so without Meronk.
The Pole won his third DP World Tour title in the last 14 months at the Italian Open in May.
Meronk was not selected by Europe captain Donald though, who instead went for Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Hojgaard, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg and Sepp Straka.
“It's been an emotional time for me," said 30-year-old Meronk ahead of defending his Irish Open title this week.
"From shock, to sadness, to anger, now I'm trying to turn that into motivation for this week.
“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.”
Meronk was confident of inclusion in Donald’s team after he won the Italian Open at the same venue used for the Ryder Cup, before finishing 13th in last week’s final qualifying event in Switzerland.
“They told me they were going to call regardless and I was in quite a good mood,” he said.
“I was on the train coming from Switzerland, I'd had a nice finish and [then] I was in shock.
“I heard from him [Donald] that it was tough for him as well but 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.”
Asked if fellow players seemed surprised by his omission, Meronk said: “Yeah, quite a few. That's very encouraging and I appreciate all that support.”
Meronk must now focus on defending his Irish Open title, something that he admitted is easier said than done.
“It's not easy," said the world No. 51.
“I haven't experienced that before so I'm fighting with emotions inside of me. I want to focus on the week, it's a great venue, a great tournament but it's still somewhere in the back of my mind what happened a couple of days ago.
“But I hope I will be ready on the first tee and I will give my best as I always do.”
Despite Meronk’s exclusion from the team, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy is feeling confident about Europe’s chances against the United States.
“I think it’s a really good team,” the Northern irishman said.
“If you’d asked me at the start of the year what I thought our chances were, I thought we were going to have a really tough time.
“The closer we’ve gotten to the cup, the more I’m liking what the team has become and the way everyone is playing. I think we’re in a really good spot heading to Rome.”
Europe will face the United States in the Ryder Cup between September 29 and October 1 at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, near Rome.
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