(Yonhap Interview) Trailblazing Polish golfer looks to keep improving, inspiring others

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- Over the course of his career, Polish golfer Adrian Meronk has set a lot of "firsts."

Meronk became the first Polish player to compete on the Challenge Tour, a second-tier men's competition in Europe, in 2017. Two years later, he became the first one from Poland to win on the Challenge Tour.

More history was made in July last year, when Meronk became the first Pole to win on the DP World Tour, formerly called the European Tour, by capturing the Horizon Irish Open title. Five months later, Meronk doubled down by winning the ISPS Handa Australian Open, where he beat the Australian star Adam Scott by five strokes.

This spring, Meronk became the first Polish player to compete at the Masters, having earned his invitation by ending 2022 inside the top 50 in the world rankings.

That's some heady stuff for Meronk, who was born in Germany, moved to Poland two years later, and attended college in the United States. And in the prime of his career at age 29, Meronk, now world No. 63, says the best is still ahead of him.

"Definitely, I'm very proud to be the first one. I've been breaking every record of Polish golf, to be honest," Meronk told Yonhap News Agency in a phone interview Wednesday, the eve of his first appearance in South Korea at the Korea Championship. The inaugural, US$2 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) and the DP World Tour. It is the first European Tour event in South Korea since the Ballantine's Championship was last contested in 2013.

"Someone has to be the first, and I'm very happy that's me. But I always say I don't want to stop trying," he said. "I don't want to just stay where I am. I just want to keep improving, keep going forward as far as possible, and that's my main goal, regardless of where I'm from."

Meronk is one of six DP World Tour winners in the field this week at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, some 30 kilometers west of Seoul. He is also No. 12 in the DP World Tour Rankings this season, the second highest among the players here.

Meronk said he is "pretty pleased about" his steady long game and putting. Numbers back that up. He ranks second on the European Tour in the "strokes gained: off the tee" category, which measures a player's performances on tee shots relative to the field, with 1.06 per round on average.

He is a good ball striker overall. He ranks fourth in both greens in regulation and strokes gained: tee to green categories.

Meronk said he'd like to improve his wedge play around the greens. And short game could be at a premium this week at the 7,470-yard Jack Nicklaus course with its undulating greens.

"It's quite generous off the tee, but you have to hit quite good second shots," he said. "The greens are very slopey, so the most important thing is to keep them in good spots."

Meronk said he has enjoyed his first trip to South Korea so far because he likes to explore new countries. He posted a photo of himself enjoying some Korean barbecue on social media Tuesday and said he is "probably going to have a few of those this week."

As for the task at hand on the course, Meronk doesn't want to get caught up in numbers.

"I've been working on improving my game lately, so hopefully just focusing on playing my best and see how it goes," he said. "I don't want to focus on any results. Just play my best."

In discussing the big picture, though, Meronk laid out more specific goals.

"Coming off a strong year last year, I'd like to keep going and get a couple more wins and get my card on the PGA Tour," Meronk said of the top U.S. circuit. "I will also focus on improving my world rankings and playing all the big events. This year, I'm playing all four majors for the first time in my career. That should be fun."

Meronk had a little taste of that fun at the Masters earlier this month. He missed the cut after shooting 73-76, and he thinks he can only get better the next time out at the famed Augusta National Golf Club.

"It's very tough. I think the more you play it, it gets more comfortable for you," he said. "I definitely want to be back as soon as possible and have another go."

As Meronk continues to explore uncharted territory for Polish golf, he hopes he can inspire younger players in his country too.

"To make golf more popular in my country, that's one of my goals as well," he said. "And I think it's growing. You can see more juniors, more tournaments, more golf courses being built. And hopefully, my good performance can help."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)