Classy Adrian Meronk wins 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award on DP World Tour

Pole voted Players’ Player of the Year by his peers and Ryder Cup reaction was part of reason

Pole Adrian Meronk is presented with the 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award by the Spaniard's son Javier on the driving range at Emirates Golf Club ahead of his appearance in this week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

Adrian Meronk may have won three times on the DP World Tour in 2023 and finished fourth on the Race to Dubai Rankings but there’s another reason why he’s just been voted Player of the Year by his peers.

Equally significant in the Pole pipping Race to Dubai No 1 Rory McIlroy as well as DP World Tour Championship winner Nicolai Hojgaard and PGA Tour FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland in the vote was his reaction to being overlooked for the Ryder Cup in Rome.

It would have been easy for Meronk to have hit out at European captain Luke Donald’s decision not to hand him one of his wildcards for the biennial clash, especially as one of those victories had come on the Ryder Cup course at Marco Simone Golf Club.

But, as witnessed in a chat with a group of golf writers during the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth as he made his first outing after the team had been finalised, his reaction to that huge disappointment oozed class, hence why many will now be delighted to discover he’s the latest recipient of the Seve Ballesteros Award.

“I'm shocked, to be honest,” admitted the 31-year-old after being presented with the prize by Javier, Seve’s son, on the driving range at Emirates Golf Club in the build up to this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the first Rolex Series event of the new season. “I'm very grateful for this award. It means a lot to me that other players appreciate my season last year.”

Meronk, who also won the ISPS Handa Australian Open and Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, earned 38 per cent of the votes cast by his fellow DP World Tour members. “Last year was the best season so far in my career,” he added, having enjoyed his success with Edinburgh man Stuart Beck caddying for him. “I'm really happy that other players saw that as well.”