History-maker Adrian Meronk off to winning start in WGC Match Play
Ryder Cup hopeful Meronk, a two-time victor on the DP World Tour in the past eight months, recovered from losing the first hole to beat recent PGA Tour winner Kurt Kitayama 2&1 at Austin Country Club.
“It was quite stressful,” said Meronk of his victory, which, with Edinburgh man Stuart Beck on his bag, was clinched with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th. “We both played quite good. In order to win the hole, I had to hit some great shots and make birdies.”
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Hide AdMeronk is on a roll in match-play events after holing the winning putt for Continental Europe in the inaugural Hero Cup against Great Britain and Ireland in Abu Dhabi in January.
“I knew Kurt was not going to give any holes away and, though I made a couple of bad decisions, it was just a solid round of golf,” he added.
McIlroy, the 2015 champion, won three of the first six holes to set up a stress-free 3&1 success over American Scott Stallings.
“It was solid,” said McIlroy, of his day’s work, which included six birdies as he tried out both a new driver and new putter in a competitive environment for the first time.
He’d reportedly taken just 19 putts in a pre-Masters round at Augusta last week. “We played 54 holes in two days and it was good,” said the four-time major winner. “I was really happy with where my game was. It was sort of good to see that after struggling at The Players (where he missed the cut).”
Kiwi Ryan Fox joined Meronk in making a winning debut with a 2&1 victory over four-time PGA Tour champion Harris English while Cameron Young, runner-up in last year’s 150th Open at St Andrews, reeled off nine straight 3s on the front nine as he beat fellow American Davis Thompson 3&2.
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatick went down 5&3 to J.J. Spaun and world No 2 Jon Rahm also tasted defeat, losing 2&1 to Rickie Fowler.
World No 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler went the full distance before eventually coming out on top against Davis Riley while other winners included Collin Morikawa and Min Woo Lee, the 2021 Open and Genesis Scottish Open champions respectively.
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