"The Ryder Cup is not the most important thing in the world"- LIV Golfer makes his priority clear after being rejected from 2023 team

Adrian Meronk joined LIV Golf at the beginning of 2024, almost at the start of the season. From the beginning, it was rumored that his decision had to do with being left out of the team that won the 2023 Ryder Cup. Almost a year later, the Pole has spoken out on the subject.

In a recent interview with Golf Digest, Meronk mentioned the Ryder Cup issue among the factors that were present when considering whether or not to join LIV Golf. In his words, not making the team "opened his eyes".

Adrian Meronk (Image via Imagn)

Here is part of what Adrian Meronk had to say:

"Not making the Ryder Cup team definitely opened my eyes to the fact that I need to focus on myself, my career, my game and my life. I realized that the Ryder Cup is not the most important thing in the world."

He added:

"I would love to play, and if I perform well enough next year I could qualify. But it’s not my priority. Before the last match it was all I thought about. I was checking the rankings every week."

Adrian Meronk won three tournaments in 2023 viz. the Australian Open, the Italian Open and the Andalucia Masters. At the end of the season, he won the DP World Tour Most Valuable Player award and a PGA Tour card.

Despite these results, the captain of the European Ryder Cup team, Luke Donald, did not pick him to play at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. Donald chose Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg.

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Adrian Meronk on the financial motivation for switching to LIV Golf: "It would be silly to deny that"

Adrian Meronk mentioned other factors that led him to choose LIV Golf, despite having won his PGA Tour card. Among those reasons was the financial aspect, as the player himself said (via Golf Digest):

"There were financial reasons as well. It would be silly to deny that. I would be lying if I said otherwise. And I can’t imagine anyone would take me seriously if I did."

There is no information available as to whether or not Meronk received a bonus for signing with LIV Golf. However, it is public knowledge that he earned $5,388,214 in the Greg Norman-led league, both for his individual results and with his Cleeks GC team.

This amount placed him 18th on the LIV Golf money list for the 2024 season. In eight seasons on the DP World Tour, Meronk has earned $6.8 million.

The Pole played 14 tournaments during the 2024 LIV Golf season. His best finish was a second place at 14-under in Houston. He also finished in other three top 10s.