World No. 39 Adrian Meronk joins LIV Golf weeks after acquiring his PGA Tour card: Report
Polish golfer Adrian Meronk reportedly parted ways with the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. Meronk has withdrawn from this week's Farmers Insurance Open and as recently reported by The Times, the current World No. 39 will switch to Saudi-backed LIV Golf in 2024.
Rumors have been around for a while that Adrian Meronk could switch to LIV Golf. However, the Polish golfer squashed them all after posting about his excitement to compete in the PGA Tour's 2024 season last month.
Meronk acquired his PGA Tour card in December 2023 and posted about the same on his social media page. However, just one month after acquiring his card, he allegedly defected from the tour to join LIV.
The news was also shared by NUCLR Golf on its X (formerly Twitter) account, with the caption:
"Adrian Meronk is reportedly heading to LIV. His resume includes being named 2023 DPWT Player of The Year. —Finished runner up to Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic last week. —Has 4 previous DPWT wins including Irish Open and Italian Opens. Meronk was snubbed of a Ryder Cup Captains pick in 2023 by Luke Donald."
It is important to note that Adrian Meronk was supposed to start the 2024 PGA Tour season at this week's Farmers Insurance Open, but ahead of the first round, he withdrew from the competition.
As per the Golf Channel, he withdrew citing illness. However, The Times and Sports Illustrated reported that Meronk has joined LIV Golf. According to the latter, Meronk will play for Martin Kaymer's Cleek's GC on LIV Golf.
Rumors of him joining the Saudi Circuit have been swirling around since 2023 when he was snubbed by European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald for the Ryder Cup.
Given Meronk's outstanding play throughout the previous season, both golf analysts and fans thought he would be Donald's choice for the Ryder Cup in 2023. However, the captain did not pick him for the biennial event.
English golfer Tyrrell Hatton rumored to join LIV Golf
Rumors have been swirling around that World No. 16 Tyrrell Hatton could also move to LIV Golf and could potentially join Jon Rahm's unannounced LIV Golf team.
Hatton revealed last week in an interview with Martin Dempster of The Scotsman that he had spoken with LIV Golf, but currently, he was enjoying playing on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Speaking of LIV Golf, Hatton said (via The Scotsman):
“I’d say there’s several people who have had conversations. I think that’s part and parcel of golf at the moment, but I’m quite happy playing the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.”
The LIV Golf's third season will start in February with their season-opening Mayakoba event. According to The Times, Adrian Meronk will tee off at the LIV Golf Mayakoba event next month.