Adrian Meronk opens up on ‘stressful’ LIV Golf switch fuelled by Ryder Cup snub

Adrian Meronk was one of LIV Golf’s key signings for the 2024 campaign, and the move came just months after he controversially left out of the European Ryder Cup team

Adrian Meronk has revealed the move to join LIV Golf earlier this season was a ‘stressful’ one, six months on from signing on the dotted line with the breakaway circuit.

Meronk became one of the marquee names to join the LIV setup for 2024, signing as part of Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks at the beginning of the year. The move was one that took many by surprise, after the Pole had been named DP World Tour Player of The Year just a week earlier at the Dubai Desert Classic

Six months on, the Polish star is well into his maiden year on the Saudi-backed series. He currently finds himself 15th in the season-long individual standings, with his best performance coming as a runner-up to Carlos Ortiz in Houston last month.

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His attention now turns to LIV’s UK event, taking place at JCB Golf and Country Club this week, and ahead of the event, he opened up on what his career change has been like. “It has been quite stressful, [especially] in the beginning,” he told reporters at the JCB setup on Tuesday.

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Despite the initial stress, it appears the switch is one that has since worked out for the European, having opened up on the reception he has received from those on the tour. “The decision was a big move for me,” he said. “But I love it here. It is a great environment, all the people here, it is like one big family.”

Meronk was infamously left out of last year’s European Ryder Cup team my Luke Donald, despite being heavily-tipped to make the 12-man squad. Having just missed out on a spot automatically, the Pole was backed to be called up as one of Donald’s six captain’s picks, but was not chosen by the former world No. 1.

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Adrian Meronk joined the Cleeks (
Image:
Getty Images)
This was no doubt a tough pill to swallow for an in-form Meronk, and he has since revealed that he reached out to his now-Cleeks GC teammate Richard Bland just a day after the team was released to scope out the LIV setup. “To be honest, when I wasn’t picked for the Ryder Cup, something inside me switched and I kind of decided to focus on myself,” Meronk told Gulf News in February.

“One day after the announcement of the team, I reached out to Richard Bland to ask him how LIV Golf was and if he was enjoying it. Moving there was in the back of my mind then, but we didn’t have any offers or big plans. I was ready to go and play in the U.S.”

Half-a-year on from his move, Meronk will be chasing down his first LIV win this week with the Saudi-backed series in action at the ultra-exclusive JCB course. Following that his attention will then turn to the Olympic Games in Paris, with the Cleeks GC member representing his native Poland at Le Golf National for the second time after featuring in Tokyo.