"Just a few unfortunate circumstances” - Rory McIlroy wants ‘heartbroken’ Adrian Meronk to take motivation from Ryder Cup snub

Rory McIlroy came in support of Adrian Meronk after he failed to make it to the 2023 European Ryder Cup team. The Northern Irish golfer has been paired up with Meronk at the 2023 Irish Open for the first two rounds.

During a press conference of the tournament, McIlroy called on Adrain Meronk to challenge his disappointment into motivation and emerge stronger. He said that Meronk deserves a spot in the team like any other player. However, some circumstances lead him to miss out on the spot.

McIlroy said (via the Planet Sport):

"We all know that he's heartbroken and he had as much of a case as anyone to be on that team. Any other year he would have made the team, there were just a few unfortunate circumstances that went against him.

"I think Jon (Rahm) and I qualifying on the European Points list instead of the World Points list, having Ludvig (Aberg) come and play the way he played… the way it all transpired he was very, very unfortunate.

"But he went out there today, shot a decent score and that's all he can do, use this as fuel for the fire to go ahead and keep playing great and hopefully make the next one in the States," he added.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has picked up Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and Nicolai Hojgaard in the team. They will join the auto-qualifiers including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.

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"It's a hard one to swallow"- Adrian Meronk after missing out on a spot at the 2023 European Ryder Cup team

Adrian Meronk opened up about not being included in the European Ryder Cup team. He said that he was shocked, sad and angry.

The Polish golfer has been in incredible form this year and deserves a spot in the team but missed out on an opportunity to represent Europe in Rome later this month.

Speaking about the captain's pick for the Ryder Cup, Meronk said (via the BBC):

"It's been an emotional time. Obviously it's a hard one to swallow, I thought I'd done enough to be on that team but it is what it is."

"I wish them good luck and I will just focus on my game and move forward. I was on the train coming from Switzerland, I'd had a nice finish and [then] I was in shock. I heard from him (Donald) that it was tough for him as well but when he said I'm not going I kind of stopped listening."

Adrian Meronk is playing at this week's Irish Open and finished in the T28 position after the first round. He will tee off for the second round four strokes behind the opening-round leader Shubhankar Sharma.

Meronk will pair up with Rory McIlroy on Friday, September 8 to start his game at 1:00 p.m. BST. The 2023 Irish Open will have its final round on Sunday, September 10.