Keegan Bradley’s Got Nothing on Adrian Meronk, Snubbed From Europe’s Ryder Cup Team

After Justin Thomas was named to the United States Ryder Cup team over Keegan Bradley, who was a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, there was plenty of outrage and sympathy sent Bradley’s way.

He even said that in the future, he would have to automatically qualify to ensure that he would get on the U.S. team in the future.

While it seems like Bradley had a rock-solid case for inclusion, it has nothing on Adrian Meronk, who was left off of Europe’s team after not being selected with one of Luke Donald’s six captain’s picks.

Adrian Meronk won the Australian, Irish and Italian Opens, has 5 other top 10s, is 3rd on the Race to Dubai and has won at the host venue, yet he hasn’t received a captains pick for the Ryder Cup in Rome. Regardless of your opinion, it’s been an incredible breakout season for… pic.twitter.com/j0XYuYqLJM

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) September 4, 2023

Unlike Bradley, Meronk did not win in limited PGA Tour action this year, but he scored three top 25s in seven starts. One line on Meronk’s resume, however, stands out.

He won the DP World Tour’s Italian Open earlier this year at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome.

🇵🇱 @AdrianMeronk Adrian Meronk is Champion at The Italian Open #DS800OpenItalia and gets him to 46th @OWGRltd

Fun Facts:
👉Winner 2022 Irish Open
👉Winner 2022 Australian Open
👉Winner 2023 Italian Open

First Golf Professional from Poland to play @TheOpen @TheMasters… pic.twitter.com/XgJdUNwqlH

— The Golf Podcast | Live (@GolfPodcastLive) May 7, 2023

If that name sounds familiar, it should: It’s the course where the Ryder Cup will take place later this month.

In addition to the Italian Open, Meronk won the Australian Open and Irish Open in the past year. He’s the defending champ in Ireland this week, where he spoke about being snubbed by Donald.

“To be honest, I was in shock,” Meronk said on the eve of the 2023 Irish Open. “I was expecting to have a decent chance to be on the team, but it was a quite shocking call, yeah.”

Adrian Meronk addresses the media ahead of his title defence at the Horizon Irish Open. #HorizonIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/itg3Mle7QR

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 6, 2023

“When he said I’m not going, I kind of stopped listening, [so I don’t know if Donald gave me a reason to leave me off the team],” Meronk said. “It was a big shock, and I didn’t really focus after that.”

While the 30-year-old from Poland said that he went from shock to anger, he was encouraged by the outpouring of support from many European golfers.

🚨🏆🇪🇺 LIV golfer Richard Bland is not happy about Adrian Meronk being left off the European Ryder Cup team and says Meronk deserves a spot over Shane Lowry. @LowryTracker pic.twitter.com/O5AoS1N5er

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) September 4, 2023

The European team’s version of Thomas is Shane Lowry. The 2019 Open Championship winner didn’t have a great year on the PGA Tour, finishing 78^th in the FedEx Cup standings and missed the playoffs.

Meronk said that for 2025, he’ll probably focus more on DP World Tour events in order to automatically qualify for the next edition of the Ryder Cup.

Cover Image via Twitter