A Pole apart as Meronk wins 25th Dunhill Links Championship

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner, Adrian Meronk of Poland poses with the trophy on the Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews’ Old Course on Sunday. Image courtesy DP World Tour/Getty images.

A Pole apart as Meronk wins 25th Dunhill Links Championship

From a Correspondent

St Andrews, Scotland: Adrian Meronk held off a star-studded chasing pack to become the first player from Poland to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Meronk shot a closing 4 under par 68 at the Old Course on Sunday to win by two strokes from Casey Jarvis and Niklas Nørgaard with a calm display down the stretch to clinch his fifth DP World Tour title.

The 33-year-old also won the Team Championship with his amateur partner Tom Chaplin, the singer-songwriter and Keane frontman, to complete a memorable double.

The 25th edition of the Dunhill Links featured dramatic late surges from  Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka and defending champion Bob MacIntyre who made brave efforts to challenge Meronk.

But Fleetwood’s 64, Koepka’s 66 and MacIntyre’s 68 were not enough as Meronk first surged past overnight leader Jarvis, who could only manage a par 72, and then also kept everyone else at bay to finish on 20 under.

Denmark’s Nørgaard birdied the last hole for a 68 and a share of second place with Jarvis, while Scotland’s Michael Stewart tied for fourth with Fleetwood after a 66. 

Koepka and MacIntyre were a further stroke back.

Full circle

“It is amazing to win here ten years after I started my professional career in the Dunhill Links of 2016,” Meronk said.

“I am very proud and happy and it’s a special victory because it’s at the Home of Golf and because of the point I am at in my career.

“The walk down 18 after hitting a good drive virtually to the green was an unbelievable feeling. 

“I had goosebumps and I was thinking of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus walking over the bridge up 18 and I was trying to get the energy from those feelings!

“It’s a dream come true because a couple of months ago I was thinking of taking a break from the game. I was making silly mistakes and not getting the results despite playing quite solid golf overall.

“I was getting angry with myself but now to be sat here with this victory just shows how quickly things can change and what a strange game golf is.”

Chaplin, a keen amateur golfer, also held his nerve – sinking a crucial four-foot net par putt on the 17th after Meronk had bogeyed and also matching his professional partner’s par at the 18th to seal the team win at 41-under-par.

Jarvis, the 23-year old South African who has already won two DP World Tour titles in a breakthrough year, led by two shots at the start on Sunday and threatened to pull clear with two successive birdies on the front nine.

Taking charge

But while he fell back with bogeys at the 9th and 11th holes and it was Meronk who took control with three birdies in six holes. 

Three shots clear when he stood on the 15th tee, Meronk was helped by Jarvis also bogeying the Road Hole 17th. A solid par on the last meant Jarvis needed an eagle two to tie and he could also only close with a par.

With a tricky crosswind, and occasional gusts of up to 35mph, posting a low round was always going to be a challenge, although Fleetwood thrilled the crowds with a brilliant eight-birdie display to get to 17-under-par.

Koepka, the five-times major winner bidding to become the first American to win the Dunhill Links, finished in a share of sixth place on 16 under, after eagling the iconic 18th for a 66.

MacIntyre, wounded by a double-bogey six at the 10th, bounced back with an eagle three on the 14th and also ended on 16 under for the tournament.

Meronk’s win, his first for almost three years, lifts him from a lowly 527th in the world rankings into the top 150. He also moves up 103 places to 38th in the Race to Dubai points table.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is a celebration of Links golf, played over the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, culminating in the final day on the Old Course on Sunday.

With a prize fund of $5 million, it incorporates an individual professional tournament for the world’s leading golfers and the Team Championship in which the professionals are paired with amateur golfers. (courtesy DP World Tour)

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