The Pole, who narrowly missed out on a place in Europe’s triumphant Ryder Cup squad, finished 16-under par to win by one stroke from Germany’s Matti Schmid at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in San Roque.

Richard Mansell was a shot further back in third after a tense final round played in changeable weather conditions and brought forward to earlier in the day due to the threat of storms.

Asked for his feelings afterwards, Meronk said: “Relieved, to be honest. It was a tough tournament, tough weather, didn’t have my best golf on the first day so to win the tournament is very special. I’m over the moon.”

.@AdrianMeronk after his win ?️#EDAM2023 pic.twitter.com/mhwSQBzBDr

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 22, 2023

Schmid did not produce the fireworks of his previous two rounds, having hit a five-under-par 67 on Friday and topped it with 65 on Moving Day.

But after going out in level par he holed from nine feet for birdie at the 10th and chipped close at the 12th to set up another.

Meronk was two-over for the first three holes but responded in style with an eagle at the sixth and holed out from 120 yards for another at the ninth to go out in 34.

A 42-foot birdie putt at the 10th took him within one of the lead held by Schmid and another long eagle attempt at the 12th went close to set up a tap-in birdie.

The German dropped a shot at the 13th but responded by matching Meronk’s birdie at the next to keep his nose in front.

The Pole’s nerveless birdie at the 17th put the pressure on Schmid, who missed his par putt back on 16 as the lead swung to Meronk.

Schmid parred the par-three 17th and was left needing a birdie at the last, where Meronk made par to finish 16-under.

The German was just unable to hole a 40-foot birdie putt on the last, which would have forced a play-off, leaving Meronk to celebrate.

“I didn’t get off to a hot start, I was trying to talk to myself, stay positive,” he said. “I was hitting good shots on the range in the morning so I knew I had the game.

“The eagle on the sixth gave me some momentum and then I believed and stayed super focused until the last putt, which I’m very proud of.

“That was the first time I hit the (ninth) fairway this week and just had a good number for my 54-degree (wedge), was hitting that shot yesterday on the range.

“Just hit a perfect shot, little draw, one bounce and in which was a great bonus for me and had me going for the back nine.”

Mansell, playing with Meronk, eagled the sixth after hitting a magnificent second shot to four feet, and another superb approach to the 10th set up birdie before he added another at the 12th.

He three-putted the 17th for an untimely first bogey of the day before a closing par left him on his own in third.

Chase Hanna finished 13-under, in the process securing his DP World Tour card for next season. The American shared fourth place with Louis de Jager.

Jeff Winther was 12-under with Marcel Siem and Jeong weon Ko a shot further back, the latter putting himself in position for a 2024 card in the process. Defending champion Adrian Otaegui, playing in the final group with Schmid and Winther, finished tied for ninth on 10-under.

Main image: DP World Tour

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The Qatar Masters will makes its return to the DP World Tour schedule in October, alongside the Andalucia Masters, organisers announced on Friday.

The two tournaments will take place in consecutive weeks with prize funds of $3.25 million.

The Andalucia Masters moves to a new venue at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande for the ninth edition of the event. It takes place from October 19-22, a week after the Open de Espana at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

The Qatar Masters returns to Doha Golf Club from October 26-29 for the tournament’s 26th edition.

It will be the last ‘regular’ event of the 2023 season, offering players the final opportunity to secure their DP World Tour cards for the 2024 season via their Race to Dubai Ranking, as well as the chance to qualify for the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player (from November 9-12).

The 2023 season will then conclude with the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, from November 16-19, which will feature the leading 50 players in the Race to Dubai rankings.

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By Ryan Herrington
For the second straight week Martin Kaymer contended in a European Tour event only to stumble at the finish.

Friends and well-wishers will insist that with each successive time Martin Kaymer squanders an opportunity to break his six-year victory drought dating back to his U.S. Open triumph at Pinehurst 156 starts ago, when the 35-year-old finally does win, it will make the moment that much sweeter. Here’s hoping that’s surely the case because of all the disappointment that has come in those missed chances.

The latest happened Sunday at Valderrama during the final round of the European Tour’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters. Kaymer, ranked 123rd in the world starting the week, was tied for the lead at two-over par with John Catlin as the pair played the par-5 17th hole. Kaymer appeared to have the clear advantage when his approach shot settled six feet from the hole while his opponent, in what looked like a fit of adrenaline, hit his approach over the green. Catlin, however, chipped up to five feet with his fourth shot, hoping to save par so that Kaymer would walk to the 18th tee with no more than a one-shot advantage should the German make the very makeable birdie try.

Except Kaymer pulled his putt, the ball lipping out. So when Catlin holed his par, the pair remained tied going to the 18th hole.

Kaymer, to take a one shot lead to the 72nd hole…#ValderramaMasters pic.twitter.com/6NH1tU3w7J

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 6, 2020

Seemingly, the pressure would still be on Catlin, a 29-year-old American looking for his first European Tour victory and trying to erase the memory of being DQ’d in August from an event for eating at a restaurant outside the tour’s designated bubble. But he managed to find the fairway with his drive on the par-4 home hole. Kaymer, however, found the first cut of rough, which set up an approach shot that landed in a greenside bunker short left of the green. Kaymer then hit the long sand shot poorly, the ball trickling just off the green while Catlin was safely on with his approach, albeit 50-plus feet from the hole.

Catlin lagged his birdie to within a foot, meaning Kaymer had to chip his ball in for par to force a playoff. And darned if Kaymer didn’t nearly do it.

John Catlin wins the #ValderramaMasters! ? pic.twitter.com/WNVnOsjZBP

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 6, 2020

Truth be told, you almost wish he didn’t actually hit the shot so well, making it a little less painful that it was dangling there on the lip. Particular when you see it from this slow-motion view.

This close to a play-off…#ValderramaMasters pic.twitter.com/qzKDQeC2oc

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 6, 2020

This all comes a week after Kaymer similarly made a late bogey to finish one-shot out of a playoff at the U.K. Championship at The Belfry.

RELATED: John Catlin puts recent Euro Tour blunder behind him with win at Valderrama

Give credit to Kaymer for putting himself in good situations of late. But let’s hope he finally closes one out here soon, if not for his sake then for ours.

The post Watching Martin Kaymer suffer his second straight heartbreaking European Tour finish is pretty painful appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Jordan Smith withdrew from this week’s Andalucía Masters during the first round, citing mental exhaustion with the European Tour’s bubble.

Smith, 27, was 11 over through 14 holes on Day 1 at Valderrama Golf Club. The former Ryder Cup venue is proving a formidable test, with just five players out of the 132-man field breaking par on Thursday. However, Smith let it known it was more than firm and fast conditions that spurred his WD.

“If people are wondering why I withdrew from this week’s event, the main fact was it was my 7th week in a row and ‘the bubble’ has gotten the better of me,” Smith wrote on Twitter. “Feeling like being in lockdown again not being allowed out the hotel does get to you after a while and mentally I had enough.”

Smith followed by saying it is the first time he’s pulled out from a tournament mid-round, and apologized to his team and the European Tour.

The European Tour’s protocols and restrictions returning from the pandemic have been uncompromising relative to the PGA Tour’s restart framework; in August, player John Catlin was disqualified when caught having dinner outside tournament grounds. In that same breath, the Euro Tour’s plan has worked, as it’s kept its constituents safe through the circuit’s return from the pandemic.

Smith entered the week 57th in the Euro Tour’s Race to Dubai, and No. 184 in the World Ranking.

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