Adrian Meronk’s professional career began at the House of Golf, when he made his pro debut on the DP World Tour at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2016. Ten years later, Meronk broke into scoring at The Old Course while watching Casey Jarvis fail to make an eagle from Sin Valley to give him the title.
“It’s unreal,” said an emotional Meronk after the win. “I don’t usually cry, but this feels really special. Sorry, I’m just lost for words. To win here after 10 years, after turning professional, is a dream come true, and it’s unusual. Sorry, I’m at a loss for words, but I’m extremely happy and relieved.”
“I never cry, but this feels special. I’m sorry, I’m just lost for words.”
Adrian Meronk is still trying to process the victory in the Old Course. pic.twitter.com/3BZeeJYsW2
-GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) October 4, 2026
It was Meronk’s first victory on the DP World Tour since 2023, when he won the DP World Tour Player of the Year before jumping to LIV Golf in 2024. Meronk’s last professional victory came at LIV Riyadh in 2025. But it was a trying year for the 33-year-old from Poland. His best finish at LIV was a T21 in Virginia. He finished 45th in the season-long points race and admitted that a trying season on the course made him consider taking a break from a game he no longer loved.
“I feel like I’ve been in a strange place,” said Meronk after his victory, via The Scotsman. “I felt that I played pretty solid golf and I couldn’t get results and it was very frustrating, and I was very angry, very sad at times, very disappointed. Every week, I felt like I was playing well and I made stupid mistakes and ended up at the bottom of the tournament. And it continued for months. To be honest, two months ago, I even thought that I had a break from golf. as before.”
But instead of walking away from the game, Meronk said that he tried to manifest what he wanted – a win on the DP World Tour that will help him keep his playing privileges for next season as LIV Golf faces an uncertain future. Meronk said he wrote in a journal every day, thankful for an upcoming victory.
“I imagined it, yes,” Meronk said in his press conference. “I write my little notebook, it’s a little phrase, it’s in Polish, but I translated it. It says: “I’m grateful for the winners of the tournaments in DP in 2026 and the Top-20 of the season”. That’s what I write every day in my notebook. Obviously it helps a lot, and it’s a step towards that goal. But I said that, imagine me sitting here or standing on 18 with the trophy, and it definitely helps. Definitely it helps.”
Meronk last started in St. Andrews two shots back of Jarvis, but he opened the birdie-birdie and then took the solo on the 12th hole. A finish of 68 put Meronk home at 20 under. When Jarvis’ last eagle attempt missed, Meronk claimed his first DP World Tour title in more than 1,000 days.
“To be sitting here now with that trophy just shows you how fast it can change,” Meronk said. “Golf is such a strange sport. One day, you know, you fight for life, and then you win one of the biggest tournaments on tour. It’s amazing, and it just shows you to keep going, to believe and to work. That’s what I did, and I’m super, super grateful for my people around me who push me every day to keep on keeping on believing.
The win moved Meronk to 38th in the Race to Dubai standings, which puts him in the cutoff to retain membership on the DP World Tour through 2027. Meronk was outside the top 200 when the LIV Golf season ended. Meronk he said to Ben Parsons Today’s Golfer that his LIV contract is over and that while he has enjoyed his time on LIV and the idea of LIV Golf 2.0 he has his attention, he has to decide what is best for his long-term career. Meronk was one of eight LIV players who struck a deal with the DP World Tour this year, allowing them to play LIV without facing punishment as long as they agree to pay their outstanding fines. However, with LIV Golf facing an uncertain future, the DP World Tour is unlikely to offer those “conditional releases” to LIV players for 2027 if the breakaway league continues in a reinvented form.
That’s why Meronk spent the fall playing as many DP World Tour events as possible to ensure he has a full-time home in 2027 — one where he can tap into his talents — regardless of LIV’s fate.
With an emotional victory in St. Andrews now in his pocket, Meronk is in a good position to retain his playing privileges on the European circuit. It is a victory that will change his calculation on what the future holds for his professional career.
“It’s a little unknown, to be honest,” Meronk said of what his professional future holds. “Obviously I came (to play on the DP World Tour) after the LIV season was done to keep my playing rights for the next season. Obviously this helps me a lot. So I have to reassess my goals, my schedule and how my future will be, but this helps a lot for sure.”