Adrian Meronk stormed clear of the Australian Open (opens in new tab) field, beating home favourite Adam Scott by five shots en route to making history by becoming the first Polish player to win the tournament.
The two-time DP World Tour winner won the event in outstanding fashion, by ending his final round with an eagle-putt from off the green at the 72nd hole to close out the tournament with a four-under par 66.
Scott had every chance going into the final round as leader, but a frustrating two-over 72 ended all of his hopes to win his second title in the tournament. There were also frustrations for Scott’s compatriot, Min Woo Lee, who ended his challenge with a one-under 69.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The leaderboard was all change from the first hole, as Scott’s bogey opened the door for Meronk to tie the lead after the Pole’s birdie on the same hole. Scott did regain the advantage though, after back-to-back birdies on the 4th and 5th.
Min Woo Lee (opens in new tab) looked to make it a three-way battle as he reduced his deficit to two shots, but a bogey on the 8th left him four-shots off the pace before the turn. The back-nine began with trouble for Scott, as he dropped two shots on the 9th and 10th which allowed Meronk to take over the lead again.
After becoming the first Pole to win on the DP World Tour just over six months ago at the Irish Open, he has added another record to his portfolio and has joined a host of golf legends by winning the Stonehaven Cup.
“To finish like that on the 18th hole, it’s just unreal. I’m so grateful, thank you for all the support and I’ve enjoyed this week so much. I felt really good again today. I just kept doing what I’ve been doing the last two days and just worked pretty well. I’m super proud of me and proud of my team and yeah, I’m happy right now.”
In the women’s event, it was recent AIG Women’s Open winner, Ashleigh Buhai (opens in new tab), who added another victory to her 2022 season, with the South African claiming a one shot victory from Jiyai Shin, while Kipp Popert dominated in the all-abilities category, as he cruised to a seven shot win over Kurtis Barkley.
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