Meronk boosts Ryder Cup hopes with win in Rome

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Adrian Meronk (Image: Masters Media)

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Adrian Meronk held his nerve in a breathless back-nine battle to win the 2023 DS Automobiles Italian Open.

The Pole kept his composure to hold off French duo Romain Langasque and Julien Guerrier at Marco Simone Golf & Country club to win by one shot.

Meronk, who holed the winning putt at the Hero Cup in January, lifted his third DP World Tour title and boosted his hopes of qualifying for the Ryder Cup, which will take place at this course later this year.

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Meronk and Langasque duelled on the back nine, while overnight leader Guerrier kept in touch with them in a thrilling finale.

The Pole edged ahead on the 16th hole with his fifth birdie of the day and holed a par putt from the edge of the green on the 17th.

Langasque’s challenge had appeared to have faltered with a bogey on the 16th, but he stunningly chipped in for a birdie on the penultimate hole to keep the pressure on.

But the Pole would not falter as he birdied the 18th to finish one shot clear of Langasque, with Guerrier a further two back.

Meronk said: “I didn’t play as well as previous days so I had to grind a little bit, but I’m proud of myself and my caddie that we kept believing, kept hitting good shots and the putts on 17 and 18 were very big.

“I knew 16 and 18 are birdieable. I had an amazing shot on 16 so that was quite an easy birdie. Seventeen was a bit of a struggle but the putt saved me. On 18 I just focused on making a birdie cos I didn’t want to go to a play-off.”

Victory on the Ryder Cup course moved Meronk up to fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

And the 29-year-old is targeting a place in Luke Donald’s Europe team for September.

Meronk added: “It was definitely on my mind coming here, performing well in front of Luke. I think it might help but there’s still a lot of time left. I still have to work on my game and get better to make the team.”

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