Adrian Meronk is one of the four new players to sign contracts with LIV Golf for 2024, with the reigning DP World Tour Player of the Year moving from that circuit, to earning a card on the PGA Tour, to then reversing course and signing with LIV Golf.
For the Polish player, the biggest reason for the move was financial -- as it is for practically any player who signs with LIV Golf.
However, Meronk said that he may not have made the move to the Saudi-owned circuit had he been picked to play on the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, which won in commanding fashion at Marco Simone Golf Club in Italy. Meronk was left off the team by captain Luke Donald, who had six captain's picks to round out his 12-player team. Meronk wasn't shy at the time in saying he was disappointed to have been left off the side.
“I don’t know, but I would probably not have come to LIV if I had played in the Ryder Cup,” Meronk said, according to Telegraph Sport. “What happened definitely made my choice easier. You know, what I went through just made it easier to care more about myself and not care what other people think of me, or what other people want me to do.
“What happened with the Ryder Cup just opened my eyes as to how everything works. Yeah, and that in life, especially when you are a professional athlete, it is not your whole life. You just have to make sure that your family is good and that you are good and feeling good.”
Meronk expounded on that point ahead of this week's LIV Golf Las Vegas event.
"I remember when I won in Italy last May, waking up on the Monday, and saying, ‘OK, great, I won the tournament. But now I have to start all over again, go to a new course, get my routine going again. Where is the joy?’ So one of the best things is having more time to enjoy life with my family and friends.”
Meronk said he plans to be based in Dubai moving forward, though he knows he won't be there often.
