Lee Westwood thinks Adrian Meronk is "unlucky" to miss out on a wildcard for Luke Donald's 12-player European Ryder Cup team.
Once Donald revealed his six wildcard picks, it ended months of speculation as to who would tee it up for Team Europe at Marco Simone. However, while Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg can look ahead to competing against the US in the biennial match, the Pole misses out.
Meronk is currently behind only automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm on the DP World Tour’s season-long Race To Dubai, while he won the Italian Open at Marco Simone earlier this year, and finished runner-up to Hojgaard at the same venue in 2021.
Donald’s decision to omit Meronk has sparked plenty of debate on social media and elsewhere and Westwood has now offered his views on the subject.
The former World No.1 wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Just got in from playing golf at @CloseHouseGolf and catching up with all the 'experts' opinions on here. I’d just say that 3rd on the @DPWorldTour points list, 1st and 2nd in 2 outings at the RC venue. @AdrianMeronk should consider himself unlucky to not get picked.”
Just got in from playing golf at @CloseHouseGolf and catching up with all the “experts “ opinions on here. I’d just say that 3rd on the @DPWorldTour points list, 1st and 2nd in 2 outings at the RC venue. @AdrianMeronk should consider himself unlucky to not get picked.September 4, 2023
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Of Donald’s wildcard picks, Straka, Hojgaard and Aberg are all newcomers, and Westwood went on to explain that he thinks picking a fourth in Meronk would have been too risky.
He wrote: “Someone always feels hard done to. If you don’t qualify you can’t really complain. Picking 4 rookies out of 6 picks would probably be a step too far for any captain. Darren and I did get picked in 06 partially due to our records around the K Club however. Horses 4 courses.”
Someone always feels hard done to. If you don’t qualify you can’t really complain. Picking 4 rookies out of 6 picks would probably be a step too far for any captain. Darren and I did get picked in 06 partially due to our records around the K Club however. Horses 4 courses.September 4, 2023
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As for Westwood, he is one of several European LIV Golf players who missed out on Donald’s team. The Englishman has had some involvement in every Ryder Cup since 1997 either as a player or, in the case of the 2018 edition, as a vice captain, but that run will come to an end this year.
This week, Meronk will be defending his Horizon Irish Open title at the venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup Westwood referred to. If he manages to claim victory for the second year in succession, it should at least go some way to alleviating his disappointment at missing out on this year’s match when he had appeared so close.
