Meronk, Buhai, Popert and the sandbelt winners at Australian Open
Adrian Meronk – photo Australian Golf Media
The hot northerly wind which welcomed players to the Victoria Golf Club on Sunday at the men’s and women’s Australian Opens promised to add a different dynamic to proceedings and a sense of pending drama to the final round and almost immediately that would be the case.
Overnight leaders of their respective fields, Adam Scott (men) and Jiyai Shin (women) both dropped shots at the very reachable par 4 first and it was very much a case of game on, not only for their nearest chasers but those perhaps further down the leaderboard who would now feel if they could negotiate their way around an increasingly difficult Victoria Golf Club layout they might find themselves in the hunt for the title later in the day.
Not only did Scott drop a shot, but the man who started the day one behind Scott, Adrian Meronk, birdied to take the lead courtesy of the two shot swing, while the third player in their final group of the day, Min Woo Lee, knocked his tee shot 20 feet from the hole and when he converted for an eagle he was two off Meronk’s lead and one behind Scott.
Shin’s dropped shot at the first allowed the South African Ashleigh Buhai to take the lead by one with Australia’s Hannah Green another three shots back in 3rd place.
Ahead on the golf course, Minwoo Lee’s other half of world golf’s most famed brother and sister combination, Minjee Lee, had birdied her opening two holes to open the possibility of a family double of Australian Open victories.
By the turn however it would be Meronk who appeared to have taken control of the men’s event. He led by three after a birdie at the 9th gave him an outward nine of 32 and following Scott’s bogeys at the 7th and 8th. Min Woo Lee was another shot back.
But the Victoria Golf Club is very much a layout which gives with one hand and takes with the other. A 14-foot birdie by Scott at the 12th was followed soon after by a bogey by Meronk at the 13th and the difference was just one.
The closing few holes at Victoria are full of both danger and opportunity and so the closing stages of the event promised much.
The women’s event was also building to a tense finish. Buhai had led by four at the turn and while Shin remained in the mix it would be Australian rookie and now LPGA Tour player Grace Kim who appeared Buhai’s biggest threat.
By the time the final group reached the 17th tee Buhai and Kim were tied at 11 under par with Shin just one behind. Kim was playing ahead of the final group and parred the 17th. Shin soon after so nearly made an eagle which would have given her the outright lead at that point but the birdie had her in a tie before Buhai, too, would birdie and she headed to the 18th with a one shot lead over Shin with and by three over Kim who agonisingly double bogeyed the last to lose her chance at such a significant win.
With the last playing longer due to a winds change on Sunday, both players were unable to reach the green and when Buhai missed a twenty foot birdie opportunity to seal the win the door was open for Shin to hole an 8 foot birdie putt to force the playoff. She appeared to misread the attempt and the title went to Buhai who became the first woman to win the AIG Open Championship and the Women’s Australian Open in the same year since Yani Tseng performed the same feat in 2011.
Back on the golf course Meronk birdied the short par 4 15th to draw two clear of Scott and when both had parred the 16th there was still two between the pair with two holes to go. Scott had eagled the 18th in each of rounds two and three so the prospect of that was no doubt in his mind provided he safely negotiated the dangerous 17th.
There was a three-shot gap back to Lee and so the outcome appeared to lay between Meronk who owns just two professional career wins and Scott with 31 to his name.
In the end, however, it would be Scott who blinked first. Taking an iron from the tee for safety and position at the 17th, his tee shot finished in the bushes to the right and he was forced to play a provisional. He would eventually take 6 and when Meronk safely made his par the difference between the pair was 3 shots as the pair headed to the 18th tee.
It was about to become five as Meronk would eagle the last to win by five shots, claiming his third title as a professional and his second DP World Tour title after winning the Irish Open earlier this year.
Scott finished runner-up with Min Woo Lee another shot back in solo third place.
In a share of 4th place with a relatively new recruit to the professional ranks, Haydn Barron from West Australia, who not only received a financial boost of A$78,500 so early in his career, he became one of three players along with Min Woo Lee and Spain’s Alejandro Canizares to qualify for next year’s Open Championship.
The leading three players in this event and not otherwise exempt for next year’s edition of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool clicked their ticket to Hoylake.
Meronk is clearly a player with a bright future. He finished 8th in the DP World Tour rankings in 2022, not only because of his win in Ireland but as a result of several other top tens. The manner in which he overcame Adam Scott and a demanding Victoria Golf Club on day four speaks volumes for a significant future for the 29 year old.
Meronk had contended early before struggling over the weekend at last week’s Australian PGA Championship but this week was a very different story, this time overcoming a slow start on Thursday when three over through four holes and double bogeying his final hole that day for a round of 73 to eventually win in a canter.
“I’m so happy and excited,” said Meronk. “I also had family here, so we spent quality time. It was a great week for me and I’m just very honoured to be here.
Currently 56th in the world ranking the victory will take him close to the top 50 and potentially a place in the Masters in 2023 although the lack of world ranking points in this event might see him just short of that mark.
“Yeah, that was definitely on my mind coming these two weeks to Australia, to improve my ranking and I think that should be enough going forward. I’ll just wait till tomorrow when the ranking comes out, but I think it gives me a good chance to be inside the top 50 and play Masters. So that’s unreal sitting here.”
Meronk has played in Australia previously but on the Gold Coast, Perth and last week in Brisbane so this was his first exposure to Melbourne’s famed sandbelt.
“I obviously enjoy Links. My coach is from Wales, so he kind of prepared me quite well by growing up. Since I came here I love the culture straight away and the turf and the greens are just so pure, and if you hit a good shot you get rewarded for that. So, I really enjoyed it.”
Meronk was asked about the thrill of playing with and beating Adam Scott.
“To be honest, I really wanted to play with him this week. He was always my role model growing up, so it was super cool to play with him. Obviously I didn’t really want to focus on him, just focused on my game, hitting good shots. But to beat him in the final group in front of the big crowds in Australia is just quite unbelievable experience and I’m super proud, that’s for sure.”
Scott also spoke well of the man who stood so tall in their last day encounter.
“Adrian played great.” said Scott when asked. “He played really great. “It’s hard to know off one round but he was very solid today. He looked good. He’s a big guy with a lot of speed in today’s game which seems to be the recipe. We can never put a cap on anyone these days I don’t think.”
“I mean, I was happy with how I played really the last three days, so that felt nice,” added the Queenslander. “It would have been nice to win, but to be honest, I’m looking forward to a couple weeks of not playing golf. I feel like I’ve played a lot.”
Buhai has taken quite some time to realise the huge potential she showed when winning the Women’s South African Open as a 14 year old but this year has certainly done that. Her win in a major at the AIG Open Championship and now this in a last round battle against several major champions will further elevate her standing in the game.
Buhai was full of praise for the Sandbelt experience.
“In terms of Sandbelt golf, I love to be able to flight the ball, windy conditions, so it suits my game really well,” said the now 33 year old. “These courses are just so pure, the best condition we get to play, but unfortunately for us women it is not in a good spot on the schedule.
“Where it was in February when it was co-sanctioned with LPGA is much better because LPGA season has just finished, Q-School hasn’t happened yet, same for the LET, so they can’t really co-sanction with any tours. But it didn’t stop girls from wanting to come down and play this tournament because obviously it has such a great history and being able to play on these courses is just really cool.”
The All Abilities title was won by Englishman Kipp Popert by sevens shots over Canadian Kurtis Barkley.
“It’s been an absolute honour to be here in Melbourne,” said Popert. “I’ve got good family and friends here, so it was nice to play in front of them and the crowds were good, so it was good fun.”
The event brought three tournaments into one and while there were logistical issues and will be no doubt tweaking of the concept in the future, especially in terms of numbers making the cut, there was a good base on which to move forward.
There were four winners this week however. Meronk, Buhai and Popert who were joined by the outstanding Victoria and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs which once again showed why this region of Australia contains some of the game’s greatest layouts.
The huge crowds who turned out to see initially Cameron Smith, Adam Scott and other leading players amongst the men and an even stronger women’s field in terms of depth, were probably also there to witness some very high class golf on a couple of golf’s finest examinations.
Ashleigh Buhai – photo Australian Golf Media
Popert, Meronk and Buhai – photo Australian Golf Media
