Adrian Meronk will make history as the first Polish player to tee it up at The Open Championship after earning his place in the field at St Andrews at the 2022 Dutch Open.
The 28-year-old qualified for The 150th Open Championship this summer alongside Victor Perez and Ryan Fox, as Perez beat Fox in a play-off at Bernardus Golf with Meronk finishing a shot back in third.
He is already a trailblazer for golf in his homeland, being the first Pole to win a European Tour group event at the 2019 Open de Portugal @ Morgado Golf Resort on the European Challenge Tour.
That victory helped him finish in the top 15 on the Road to Mallorca as he also became the first Polish player to earn a card on the DP World Tour.
I’m super excited. I still can’t believe it, to be honest. But I’m looking forward already to this great Championship
And now, with three top-threes and three further top-tens already in 2022, he is set to make more history at St Andrews.
“I’m super excited," he said. "I still can’t believe it, to be honest. But I’m looking forward already to this great Championship.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am. I’m sure people supporting me back home, my family, all of them are super happy as well. I can’t wait to tee off at St Andrews, for sure.
“My coach is British, so since we began working together he’s always said, ‘The Open, this is the Championship you want to play in’. I’m super excited.”
Perez is no stranger to the Home of Golf, having won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2019, and is based in nearby Dundee.
He made his Open debut last season and cannot wait to get a second chance in July.
"It's fantastic, obviously being so close to home," he said. "I've lived in Dundee now for five years and it was definitely a goal.
“It would be the biggest Championship in the world to win, so you can only win it if you're part of it.
"I think I'm in a position, you know, living there, having won there, playing obviously really well right now, it not being so far away. I think I saw the other day we were 50 days away, just below now, so it's really around the corner, so it will be fantastic.
"It's a great opportunity and I look forward to it."
Fox will be making his sixth Open appearance in the summer at the same venue where he made his debut and finished in the top-50 in 2015.
“It was one of my big goals to tick off this year,” he said. “I qualified there in 2015 and absolutely loved it, and to get back for The 150th this year is a dream come true and I'm looking forward to it.
“I've played St Andrews a lot since that first year and it's one of my favourite places in the world. I think the atmosphere this year for it being The 150th is just going to be immense.
"Ben Campbell is in, another Kiwi, so I'm looking forward to joining him in the field and hopefully I can keep enjoying playing links golf."
