2026 Alfred Dunhill Links: Marvellous Meronk wins 25th anniversary Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Updated: Oct 6
Winning at the Home of Golf brings a golfer a lot of different things.
Winning at the Home of Golf brings them a place in history.
Winning at the Home of Golf brings them a moment of fame.
Winning at the Home of Golf brings them a memory to cherish forever.
Winning at the Home of Golf can change their career.
Winning at the Home of Golf can launch a career.
Winning at the Home of Golf can save a career.
Winning at the Home of Golf can elevate the sport in the country the winner is from.
"This place will forever be one of my favourite places on earth"
Poland's Adrian Meronk claimed his 5th DP World Tour title with a final round of 68 to win by 2 shots from 54-hole leader Casey Jarvis. Adrian Meronk made his career breakthrough across 2022 and 2023, winning the National Opens of Ireland, Australia and Italy before winning the Andalucía Masters, and he reached World Number 39 after a 2nd place finish in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January 2024.
Then he joined LIV Golf, and due to LIV not having OWGR points until the 2026 season and a loss of form, the 6ft 6inch tall golfer fell from a great height to 871st in the rankings. Since playing in potentially his final ever LIV Golf event Meronk has played in six consecutive DP World Tour events, taking in the OMEGA European Masters, Husqvarna British Masters, Amgen Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, FedEx Open De France and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
He arrived in Scotland with a World Ranking of 527, and a Race to Dubai ranking of 141st, and he was set to lose his status on the DP World Tour and face a totally uncertain future with LIV Golf's future still up in the air. The pressure was on to perform, and at the event which gave him his professional debut 10 years ago.
Meronk's stock had fallen so far that he had gone from being DP World Tour Players' Player of the Year to not even being drawn among the big names for this Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, He began his tournament with a round of 71 on the Old Course on Thursday, when the best players were playing at Carnoustie, and he continued by shooting 66 at Carnoustie on Friday, when the best players were playing at Kingsbarns. Then on Saturday he made his move to get into contention with a bogey-free round of 63 at Kingsbarns, when the best players were playing the Old Course.
Meronk had gone from being an afterthought to a genuine contender, and one which a photographer colleague of mine predicted would win, despite starting two shots back of an in-form 54-hole leader, Casey Jarvis. That shows that despite his fall from being an emerging, and respected talent in the game, people knew that form was temporary, and class was permanent.
Meronk began his round with two consecutive birdies, quickly tying the South African for the lead, and despite Jarvis briefly regaining the advantage, things would turn decisively in the Polish golfers favour. Jarvis bogeyed the 9th and 11th, while Meronk birdied 12 and 14, and the 33-year-old held a three shot lead with four holes to play.
Meronk's second shot to the 17th hole fell off the back of the green, and ended up on the grassy verge before the road. He would make bogey from there, falling back to 20-under-par, and leading by just a single shot with 1 hole of his round remaining. Meronk made par at the 72nd, but Jarvis also bogeyed 17 and was unable to make the eagle required to send the tournament into a playoff at the 18th.
In the Old Course Pavilion, home to Championship scoring, Meronk was visibly emotional at securing the most important win of his career, given what was on the line and the potential consequences for him down the line.
Meronk said: “It is amazing to win here ten years after I started my professional career in the Dunhill Links of 2016, I am very proud and happy and it’s a special victory because it’s at the Home of Golf and because of the point I am at in my career.
“The walk down 18 after hitting a good drive virtually to the green was an unbelievable feeling. I had goosebumps and I was thinking of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus walking over the bridge up 18 and I was trying to get the energy from those feelings!
“It’s a dream come true because a couple of months ago I was thinking of taking a break from the game. I was making silly mistakes and not getting the results despite playing quite solid golf overall.
“I was getting angry with myself but now to be sat here with this victory just shows how quickly things can change and what a strange game golf is.”
The victory makes Meronk the first Pole to ever win a professional title at the Home of Golf, and means players from 11 different countries have won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in its 25 years. Meronk had a double success, winning the Team Championship with his amateur playing partner Tom Chaplin.
Briefly we were on the precipice of one of the greatest golfing stories ever told.
Michael Stewart began the week as the World Number 979, and was playing in the Tartan Pro Tour event at Duddingston in Edinburgh. A second place finish there nudged him marginally up the rankings, but his unlikely achievements at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship are set to change his career. He began the final round on Sunday some 7 shots off the lead, but a remarkable three hole stretch on the back nine saw him move into genuine contention for the title itself. Birdies at the 11th and 12th, which were being buffeted by a strong breeze off the Eden Estuary, were followed by a spectacular hole out eagle on the 13th. He would par in to shoot a bogey-free 66 and finish in a tie for fourth.
He began the week playing in a tournament with a £20,250 purse and winning £2,365, and the week ends with him claiming €197,170.81 for finishing in a share of fourth place with Tommy Fleetwood. Now Stewart is almost a certainty for a category 10 card on the HotelPlanner Tour next season, and he could even secure DP World Tour status with another strong performance at this week's Open de Espana in Madrid.
The Ayrshire man began 2026 outside the top 1700 in the world, and is now pushing for a place inside the world's top 300, off the back of a season which has seen him win twice among 8 top-10 finishes. It truly is a fairytale story which only golf can deliver, and at the age of 36.
Defending Champion Robert MacIntyre failed to mount a serious challenge to become just the second player to defend the title successfully, shooting a final round of 68 to finish four shots off the lead and tie for sixth with Brooks Koepka. After his round the Scot from Oban said that the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship could be his last tournament of the 2026 season.
We always talk about the big names, and they are undoubtedly vital to the long-term prosperity of this and other championships around the world. This week always gives us a myriad of storylines, and for Adrian Meronk and Michael Stewart, the 25th anniversary Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will forever be one event to remember as long as they play golf.
The 2027 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is scheduled for September 30-October 3.
SHANK, by Matt Hooper
Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association
SHANK's coverage of the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is sponsored by Birdies St. Andrews - the best Pizza Takeaway in St Andrews, open until 3am daily.
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