Adrian Meronk earns historic victory at Irish Open

On a final day where we saw a tight and congested standings, it was Adrian Meronk who came out of the pack, as a birdie-birdie-eagle run on the final holes gave him a historic win at Mount Juliet .
Becoming Poland’s first DP World Tour winner, the 29-year-old dazzled in the final as the overnight leader held on to win the Irish Open by three strokes.
A moment of history 🇵🇱🏆@AdrianMeronk | #HorizonIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/zAT27seb0YJuly 3, 2022
Starting one stroke short of a leaderboard that included a number of players seeking early wins and Open Championship berths, it was Meronk who started well with two birdies. However, after a bogey in the sixth, anyone could still guess, with eight players within a shot of the lead.
A few holes later, as the back nine loomed, Norwegian Espen Kofstad took the lead as five birdies gave him a one-shot advantage. Looking for his first DP World Tour win, the 34-year-old couldn’t hold on, with a quadruple bogey in the 13th ending any chance of victory.
Back to the leaders, with arguably two of the fittest and most consistent players on the DP World Tour right now, Ryan Fox and Meronk have continued their superb runs throughout 2022.
Fox earned his third runner-up of the season at Mount Juliet
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Playing last, Fox was off to an incredible round, as seven birdies and an eagle put him at nine under par and 18 under for the tournament. However, the New Zealander stole the green on the 18th and when he failed to get up and down a dejected Fox thought he was well out of the way.
In the end, the bogey was almost irrelevant, with Meronk birdying back-to-back birdies on 15th and 16th to take the lead by one. Arriving at the par-5 17th, which was playing the easiest hole of the day, the Pole delivered the killing blow, with a long eagle putt giving him a three-shot cushion down the 18th.
Four strokes later, the historic moment and the title were his, as he grabbed a well-deserved victory and a tentative move into the top 65 of the world rankings. Besides Meronk, John Catlin, Fabrizio Zanotti and David Law also scored success, who qualified for the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.