Adrian Meronk was on a train from a tournament Switzerland when he got a call from Team Europe captain Luke Donald to inform him that he had not been selected for the Ryder Cup.
The world number 51 failed to qualify automatically for the tournament but was viewed as a strong contender to be one of Donald's captain's picks as he'd won three tournaments in the last 15 months. One of those was the Italian Open, which was played at the Marco Simone Golf Club, the venue of this year's Ryder Cup.
Donald instead chose Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, and Nicolai Højgaard.
The selection of Lowry - whose form this year, by his own admission, "has not been the greatest" - came in for particular criticism. Donald defended the choice, saying Lowry "loves those team atmospheres" and some picks are made "knowing that they have been there and you know that they have been in those situations".
Meronk said he had been "expecting the call because they told me they are going to call me regardless".
"So I was in quite a good mood to be honest. I was on the train coming from Switzerland. Had a nice finish," he said at the K Club on Wednesday after playing in the Irish Open Pro-Am.
"To be honest, I was in shock, yeah, because I was expecting I have a pretty decent chance to be on the team but it was a quite shocking call, yeah.
"I heard from him that it was tough for him, as well. To be honest when he said I'm not going, I kind of stopped listening. I didn't listen much to be honest.
"He was saying that someone had to stay home. It was close obviously and stuff like that. Obviously I wouldn't want to be in his position. I knew it was tough for him.
"But yeah, as I said, it was a big shock and I didn't really focus after that."
3 July 2022; Adrian Meronk of Poland celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Horizon Irish Open Golf Championship at Mount Juliet Golf Club in Thomastown, Kilkenny. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Meronk goes into this year's Irish Open as the defending champion. The 30-year-old Pole won by three shots at Mount Juliet last year.
"It's been emotional time for me to be honest from shock to sadness to anger, and now I'm trying to turn it into motivation going into this week," he added about not being selected for the Ryder Cup.
"Obviously it's a hard one to swallow. I thought I've done enough to be on the team but it is what it is. I wish them good luck and I will just focus on my game and move forward.
"Monday, first half of the day was more sadness and disbelief. But then anger, yeah, because to be honest last year and a half, I spent a lot of time thinking about this and that was my goal.
"So you know, suddenly, I was just realising that it's not going to happen this year. So it was just sadness turning into anger. I think it's normal process of emotions to be honest.
"Yeah, I talked to my parents and my psychologist, my coach and they all have been quite supportive and to be honest, a lot of players on tour and coaches, caddies, staff, they all have been very supportive to me. You know, texting me, calling me."
Meronk said that people in Poland did not take his omission well.
"Obviously you don't know Polish but you can read some comments on social media," he said.
"Obviously everyone was disappointed. I know a couple of people already bought tickets because they were sure I'm going to be there. They probably are going to go regardless, but yeah, they were not happy."
See Also: Luke Donald Defends Shane Lowry After Meronk Ryder Cup Snub Uproar
