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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Irish Open: Adrian Meronk becomes first Polish player to win on DP World Tour

Adrian Meronk
Meronk sunk birdie putts on 15 and 16 before a brilliant eagle on 17 gave him a three-shot cushion

Adrian Meronk became the first Polish player to win on the DP World Tour as a surging finish saw him claim the Irish Open at Mount Juliet.

Overnight leader Meronk birdied 15 and 16 before an eagle on 17 helped him card a six-under 66 and beat Ryan Fox by three shots.

New Zealand’s Fox hit seven birdies and an eagle but a bogey on the last dented his chances before Meronk raced clear.

Shane Lowry shot 67 to finish as the leading Irish player.

For a while, it looked as though Fox would avenge his 2018 Irish Open play-off defeat at Ballyliffin as the 35-year-old raced through the field on another day of low scoring in County Kilkenny.

Fox, 35, eagled the par-five 17th to reach 18-under but dropped a shot after missing the green.

Meronk’s response was emphatic. Trailing Fox by one, the 29-year-old drained a 24-foot putt for a birdie on 15 and backed it up with another gain on the next to move into the outright lead.

Needing to close with two pars, Meronk put the result beyond doubt by holing his eagle putt from off the front of the 17th green to move three clear.

Emphatic finish gives Meronk long-awaited maiden title

Meronk, ranked 110th in the world, has been knocking on the door to the winners’ circle for a long time.

A runner-up in last year’s Italian Open, his six top-10 finishes this year prior to the Irish Open included a tie for third in Qatar and Catalunya, and a solo third at the Dutch Open, where Fox lost in a play-off.

But when Fox’s bogey presented the Pole with a chance, he finished the job in hugely impressive fashion in front of a sell-out crowd at Mount Juliet.

While he birdied the second and fourth holes, a bogey at the sixth temporarily derailed his progress before he steadied the ship with three pars.

A birdie at the par-five 10th was followed by another four pars before his putter caught fire down the stretch, sinking putts from 24, 12 and 24 feet from the 15th to put Fox and the chasing pack in his rear-view mirror.

More to follow.

Source: BBC

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