Ryder Cup legend tells Adrian Meronk: I’d have picked you

Former European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam says he would have picked Adrian Meronk after the Pole was controversially overlooked by Luke Donald.

Meronk’s omission was the most contentious as Donald finalised his Ryder Cup team on Monday by naming Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard as his six captain’s picks.

They join qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre for the upcoming showdown in Rome.

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Many feel Meronk, who sits in third place behind McIlroy and Rahm in the Race to Dubai standings, is the unfortunate 13th man who just missed out.

The towering 30-year-old proved he can master the Ryder Cup venue with a victory in the Italian Open at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in May.

He has also won the Irish Open and Australian Open and was fifth on the European Points List, but was seemingly beaten by the young Danish talent Hojgaard for the last place in Donald’s team.

And Woosnam, the winning European skipper at the K Club in 2006, is convinced Meronk had done enough for a pick.

“You would of been in my team there only one way to prove people wrong go out there and win a major,” the 1991 Masters champion tweeted.

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Explaining his reasons for leaving Meronk at home, Donald said: “There were a lot of people throughout the year and by the time Sunday came around, that was narrowed down to a few, Adrian being one of those for sure.

“He absolutely did a lot of great stuff throughout the year and was very much on my mind.

“But there were other players too that legitimately could have/should have been there, but in the end, I’m very happy with Nicolai, very happy with Ludvig – very happy with all the six picks, to be honest, that make up this 12.”

Meronk is yet to speak out fully on his snub from the team but his classy message on social media last night read: “Good Luck @RyderCupEurope.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.