Meronk, in his 65th DP World Tour event, is the first player from Poland to win on the Tour.

A moment of history @AdrianMeronk | #HorizonIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/zAT27seb0Y

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 3, 2022

A final round of 66 gave him a three shot victory over opening day leader Ryan Fox of New Zealand, with Thriston Lawrence of South Africa a further shot back in third.

Fox had posted the clubhouse lead with a final round 64 but Meronk ensured his victory with an eagle on the par 5 seventeenth hole.

Meronk’s round included 5 birdies and an eagle while Fox had posted the round of the day with an eight under par score which included seven birdies and an eagle. Fox’s double bogey on the final hole however left the door open for Meronk who was playing a few groups behind him.

Another first for Meronk

Meronk is used to achieving firsts in his short career so far: he became the first player from Poland to secure a DP World Tour card when he graduated following a 2019 Challenge Tour campaign that included ten top ten finishes; he was the first male Polish player to compete in golf’s four Major Championships when he qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open; he was the first Polish player to win on the European Challenge Tour when he won the 2019 Open de Portugal at Morgado Golf Resort.

Today’s Horizon Irish Open win will see him move to sixth on the DP World Tour Rankings and could move as high as 61^st in the Official World Golf Ranking – a career-best – when they are updated.

Shane Lowry ended the 2020 Horizon Irish Open as the leading Irish player. The Offaly man carded a final round 67 for a five under par round, leaving him in ninth place on -9, eight shots behind the winner.

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Lowry, who teed off at 11.40am, immediately birdied the opening hole. Following a run of pars on the next three holes, the Clara-native claimed his second birdie of the round at the 5th hole.

Further birdies on 10, 11 and and 14, with a bogey in between at the 12th was soon followed by his sixth birdie of the day at the penultimate hole. With a par on the last, Lowry finished the tournament on -12.

Pádraig Harrington had an incredible start to his final round at the Horizon Irish Open. The US Open Senior Champion made 6 birdies in the opening eight holes, and turned in 30.

The closing nine holes were not as successful for the Dubliner however. A double bogey at 10 saw him lose momentum. Bogeys at 16 and 18 with a birdie in between at the seventeenth hole saw the former dual Open Champion end the 2020 Horizon Irish Open on -3 for the round – his best of the week, on an overall score of -7.

Waterford’s Séamas Power had three birdies and an eagle at the par three 6th. He posted a round of four under par, finishing the tournament on seven under par.

Niall Kearney had four birdies and 2 bogeys in a two under par round of 70 and ends this year’s Horizon Irish Open on -4.

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The 29-year-old birdied three of the last four holes at Mount Juliet Estate on Saturday to sit top of the leaderboard on 14 under par.

“I’m quite excited,” admitted Meronk. “Just happy with my score so far. Played pretty solid again today. And, yeah, can’t wait for tomorrow for sure.

“To be honest, the conditions were quite tough. Our first eight holes I would say was just — the rain was on and off. It was actually raining pretty hard for three holes. So that was quite challenging. But you know, being in contention, seeing all these people, it’s quite exciting.”

Meronk was the first Polish player to win on the European Challenge Tour at the 57º Open de Portugal in 2018, before going on to become the first Pole to graduate to the DP World Tour later that year. In 2021, he became the first player to fly the Polish flag in a Major Championship when he teed it up at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Merink is one shot ahead of second round leader Jorge Campillo. The Spaniard currently shares second place with England’s Jack Senior and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti on 13 under par.

The 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry currently leads the home charge, having posted a four under par 68 early on Saturday to move to seven under. The Offaly man is seven shots off the lead, however.

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The Waterford man carded a three under par round of 68 today and finds himself on -8, three shots behind the tournament leader Jorge Campillo of Spain.

US Open Senior Champion Pádraig Harrington posted a 72, a shot worse off than his opening round. Today’s round which included 6 birdies, 2 bogeys and a double bogey six on the seventh hole leaves the Dubliner on -3 for the tournament.

An incredible four birdies in the last four holes saw Shane Lowry stay involved at Mount Juliet for the weekend. Prior to the 15^th hole, the Offaly man had four bogeys and only two birdies on his card. His round of 70 left him on the cut-off mark of -3.

Niall Kearney, the joint-leading Irish player yesterday finds himself eight shots off the leader on -3 alongside Shane Lowry after shooting one over par round of 73 in the second round.

Amateurs Mark Power and Colm Campbell Jnr ended their tournament on with rounds of par and three-over par respectively.

The other Irish golfers John Murphy, Cormac Sharvin, Jonathan Cadwell, Paul Dunne and David Higgins all ended their involvement in the 2022 Horizon Irish Open when failing to make the cut.

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The Spaniard shot a second round 68 to go with yesterday’s 65 to finish the halfway stage of the 2022 Horizon Irish Open on -11.

“I played great over the last two days, so I can’t complain” Campillo admitted. “It was a great two days. Today was a little tougher than yesterday and I managed to play okay as well, so I’m quite happy about it.

“It started raining towards the last few holes for you out there. You’re done, you’re finished and you can relax and put your feet up. If the rain does come even harder this afternoon, for the afternoon players, what do you think they can expect?  How will the course play trickier?”

Jorge Campillo is one shot ahead of Poland’s Adrian Meronk and Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay who shot 67 and 69 respectively today.

Frederic Lacroix of France and Scotland’s David Law who posted rounds of 70 and 68 respectively on Friday come next at -9.

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Power and Kearney both carded 68s for rounds of -4.

PGA Tour-based Power, who is appearing at the Irish Open for the first time since 2019, had three birdies and two bogeys in the opening nine holes. Further birdies at 10, 16 and 17 meant the Waterford man finished with an opening round of 68.

Thirty-four-year-old Niall Kearney joins Power on -4. The word-ranked number 498 had a bogey at the eight. On the back nine he carded 5 birdies eventually singing for a 68.

US Senior Open Champion Pádraig Harrington, back on Irish soil since his Senior major win last Sunday, was two-under at the turn following birdies at the fifth and eight holes – both par fives – and ended his first round on -2

John Murphy shot a two-under par round of 70, with 69s for Shane Lowry and Jonathan Caldwell seeing them end the day on -1.

Irish amateurs Mark Power and Colin Campbell Jnr both signed for rounds of level par 72, as did Cormac Sharvin.

David Higgins began with an opening round of +6, meaning he has a lot to do in round two on Friday.

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The New Zealander shot eight birdies in an -8 opening round at Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and holds the clubhouse lead.

“I’m more surprised, to be honest, than anything else” admitted the opening round leader. “I’ve been fighting it on the range the last couple days after the weekend, and certainly didn’t look like it early in the round. I made a couple of birdies, but I was scrapping away, and then stop and collect on 7, 8, hit a great wedge shot in there and made a few putts as well.”

Discussing his round of -8, the New Zealander stated:

“(My) short game kept me in it early and a couple good up-and-downs. My wedge play was really good. I think I hit it stiff on 7, 8, that tee on 7, 8, 1, and 2, and then kind of the birdies there with a wedge, and on top of that holed a couple of nice putts. So it’s just one of those days where everything went really well and I managed to keep it in the fairway for the most part, which around this golf course, if you’re in the rough, that’s pretty tough out there, which I found sort of through the first six holes.”

Frenchman Frederic Lacroix is a shot behind on -7 after his round of 65. He is tied in second place with German Marcel Schneider, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, and Spaniard Jorge Campillo.

Tied on six under are Antoine Rozner of France, Englishmen Dale Whitnell, Jordan Smith and Aaron Rai, South African Thriston Lawrenece, and Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal.

Séamas Power and Niall Kearney are the leading Irish players after first round 68s for a -4 score.

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“I say it every year, it’s always great to come back to The Irish Open, the tournament.  It’s kind of close to me, and I owe a lot to it for where I am in the game with the start that I had with The Irish Open in 2009, and, yeah, gave me the kick start to my career that I really needed, definitely gave me one up on the rest of the guys around my level at the time.”

Discussing his good early season form, the Offaly native said:

“It’s been a nice stretch for me, and I feel confident, I feel good about my game. So it’s just about managing expectation in a week like this really.  But I feel like I’m doing that every week because I feel like every week I play now is such a big week, and every week I really want to do well.”

Though there is added pressure on the Irish players this week to perform in front of the home crowd, according to the former Irish Open Champion Shane Lowry:

“It’s just managing expectation, managing myself around the course and allowing myself to play good golf, and I’ll be fine. I treat it like any other tournament. I was actually talking about it the other night, you come back to Ireland like once a year to play this tournament.  And especially this year, when things have been going well and I’ve been playing quite good, there’s no point shying away, one of the highest ranked players in the field, one of the top Irish players, one of the players that people really want to do well. There’s expectation there.”

So, how will the Clara-native perform this week?

“I’m just going to be myself and be as good as I can with everyone and just give people what they want. Because I think that’s just nice. When I was a kid coming to The Irish Open, that’s what I wanted. So it’s nice to be able to do that. And, no, not doing anything different.  I’m staying here on site, my family are here. I’m going to up and down and around for dinner and stuff. Nothing really different.”

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Finishing on a 19 under par total, Herbert had three shots to spare over Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg. American Johannes Veerman was a further shot behind on 15 under.

A final round of 68 from Hebert, following rounds of 64, 67 and 70, saw him take his second European Tour victory on his 65th appearance.

Hebert becomes just the third Australian to win the Irish Open. Ossie Pickworth in 1950 and Brett Rumford in 2004 were the only Australians to have previously won Ireland’s national open.

Winner’s reaction

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” admitted the Australian. “It’s just so – it’s a bit fulfilling, really. I felt like I was at one of my low points in my life when I played here two years ago at Lahinch in the Irish Open, and now to feel like I’ve done full swing and come back around and won the event that I was at a pretty low point at, it’s pretty satisfying. I’m very happy standing here right now.”

The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open winner continued:

“Obviously chip-out on seven and then make that really nice putt for par. And then just scrambled all the way down eight and made that; that could have been the turning point of the day, if those two putts don’t go in, you make two bogeys. To keep that card really clean out there and not come back to the field and give them a chance, I’m happy about that.

“And later the bunker shots on 15 and 16, I felt like I scrambled so nicely all day. I didn’t feel like I holed a lot of putts yesterday, so to feel I holed the putts today, so good, so good.”

A former winner of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Herbert’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open success is a 136th win by an Australian on the European Tour.

Today’s win will see Herbert rise in both the Race To Dubai Rankings and the Official World Golf Rankings as well as achieve a place in this year’s Open Championship.

Shane Lowry, who carded a 66 today for a four-round score of 279 (-9), finished as the leading Irish player in tied-23rd place.

A final round of 72 from Cormac Sharvin saw him finish two shots behind the Offaly native.

Graeme McDowell signed for a 74 on Sunday to finish on three under par, while Rory McIlroy, who also had a 74 in the final round, ended the tournament on two under par.

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open scores here

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Herbert, who has led since Thursday, holds a one-stroke lead. He bids to become just the third Australian winner in the event’s 94-year history, and the first wire-to-wire winner since 2014.

The 25-year-old had his maiden European Tour victory at the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic last year. He now stands on the brink of winning one of the Europe’s most historic national opens. He would join Ossie Pickworth (1950) and Brett Rumford (2004) as Australian winners of the prestigious title.

Herbert opened up a three-stroke advantage at one stage on Saturday. In his opening ten holes he achieved four birdies without a single dropped shot.

The Victoria player struggled to adjust to the swirling winds in the late afternoon. Bogeys on the 11^th and 14^th holes pulled him back to the field. He eventually signed for a 70, for a 15 under par total.

Herbert’s reaction

“I played okay,” admitted Herbert. “In one aspect, it’s kind of frustrating. I could have really put a good one away and felt like I got too far away from the majority of the field, but 15 probably has just left the door open a touch.”

Looking ahead to round 4 on Sunday, the Australian said:

“So tomorrow is a massive chance, and obviously I think in time to come I’ll probably look back on it and realise it more, but at the moment, I’m trying to stay pretty focused on the moment and really feel like I just play my game and let that sort of take care of itself.”

American Johannes Veerman is only a shot behind after shooting a 67. South African Justin Harding is two shots further back on 12 under after a 65 today.

Former Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood and Thomas Pieters lie six shots off the pace in a share of 12^th position.

Cormac Sharvin is leading Irishman

Ardglass golfer Cormac Sharvin is the leading Irish player. He carded a 69 for a seven under total. He lies two shots ahead of Graeme McDowell on five under while Rory McIlroy carded a one over par 73 for a four under total.

Third Round Scores

201 L HERBERT (AUS) 64 67 70,
202 J VEERMAN (USA) 65 70 67,
204 J HARDING (RSA) 69 70 65,
205 R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 67 67, F LAPORTA (ITA) 68 69 68, D WHITNELL (ENG) 67 67 71,
206 A JOHNSTON (ENG) 67 70 69, R RAMSAY (SCO) 67 69 70, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 67 69 70, G FORREST (SCO) 66 67 73, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 67 66 73,
207 A RAI (ENG) 69 71 67, T PIETERS (BEL) 70 69 68, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 67 72 68, S CROCKER (USA) 67 70 70, A ROZNER (FRA) 68 68 71, R BLAND (ENG) 69 66 72,
208 J MORRISON (ENG) 70 68 70, S BROWN (ENG) 68 69 71, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 66 73,
209 M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69 72 68, C SHARVIN  73 67 69, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 69 71 69, G BHULLAR (IND) 71 68 70, C PAISLEY (ENG) 68 71 70, W BESSELING (NED) 69 69 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 68 71, J CATLIN (USA) 69 68 72, M LEE (AUS) 68 68 73, C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA) 67 68 74,
210 K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 68 72 70, T KANAYA (JPN) 71 68 71, M KAYMER (GER) 67 70 73, J GUERRIER (FRA) 68 68 74,
211 M WARREN (SCO) 71 70 70, G MCDOWELL 74 67 70, D FICHARDT (RSA) 73 68 70, C SYME (SCO) 69 71 71, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 72 68 71, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 68 72 71, J SENIOR (ENG) 72 68 71, D LAW (SCO) 73 66 72, M JORDAN (ENG) 69 69 73, J SMITH (ENG) 69 69 73, D HOWELL (ENG) 71 67 73, A COCKERILL (CAN) 68 70 73, A ARNAUS (ESP) 67 69 75,
212 T TREE (ENG) 72 69 71, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 69 72 71, J WALTERS (RSA) 69 71 72, S KIM (USA) 72 68 72, B HEBERT (FRA) 70 69 73, R MCILROY 72 67 73, M KIEFFER (GER) 71 67 74, G HAVRET (FRA) 67 69 76, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 68 76,
213 S SHARMA (IND) 74 67 72, D COUPLAND (ENG) 73 68 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 67 73 73, S LOWRY 70 69 74,
214 R H?JGAARD (DEN) 70 71 73, V NORRMAN (SWE) 68 72 74, O FARR (WAL) 72 66 76, A BJORK (SWE) 72 66 76,
215 G PORTEOUS (ENG) 70 70 75,
216 A LEVY (FRA) 68 73 75,
218 S JAMIESON (SCO) 68 73 77,
223 K KITAYAMA (USA) 69 72 82, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 70 70 83,

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