ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Adrian Meronk rallied past an unsteady Casey Jarvis to win the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday, earning a full card on the DP World Tour when the 33-year-old member of LIV Golf desperately needed it.
Meronk was the DP World Tour player of the year in 2023, was left off the Ryder Cup team in Rome, and then he defected to LIV Golf the following year. He was among eight players who accepted a deal from the European tour earlier this year that allowed him to keep his membership.
The two-shot victory at St. Andrews, his fifth title on the DP World Tour, gives him full membership on the European tour for 2027. That's important with so much in doubt at LIV Golf as it goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"I never usually cry, but this one feels really special," Meronk said after his 4-under 68. "I'm lost for words. I'm extremely happy and quite relieved."
Victory was not secure until Jarvis failed to hole out for eagle on the 18th at the Old Course.
Meronk opened with three birdies in five holes to make up a two-shot deficit on Jarvis, who was seeking his third European tour title this year.
Jarvis still had a one-shot lead and was in prime position on the short par-4 ninth. His pitch was 15 feet below the hole for birdie. But he ran it by 4 feet and wound up three-putting for a shocking bogey, leaving him tied.
On the par-3 11th, Jarvis came up short of the green and played it smartly with a high pitch beyond the flag to take the slope back toward the hole. But it was too much spin, aided by the wind, and rolled all the way back off the green leading to another bogey.
Meronk holed an 8-foot birdie putt ahead of him on the 12th, and suddenly his lead was two shots. He stretched the lead to three shots with a superb pitch-and-run to 2 feet for birdie on the par-5 14th, and a bogey on the Road Hole at the 17th did him no harm.
Jarvis, who made a 30-foot putt from just short of the 15th green to stay in the game, lost all hope when he missed the green well left on the 17th, putted to 6 feet and missed the par putt. He closed with a 72 and tied for second with Niklas Norgaard (68), whose amateur partner was outgoing PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Michael Stewart capped off a dream week with a 66, which included a stretch on the back nine when he made a 25-foot birdie on the 11th, a 30-foot birdie on the 12th and then holed out from 112 yards for eagle on the 13th. He tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood (64).
Stewart, the No. 979 player in the world, was playing a Tartan Pro Tour event on Wednesday. He said he would return to the Tartan -- he would be eligible for the Spanish Open next week -- to make sure he has status somewhere in 2027.
He is second on the Tartan Pro Tour points list. A win would give him a card on the Challenge Tour.