Meronk fires 66, Gradecki 69 in third round action

KARUIZAWA, Japan. (Sept. 12, 2014) – Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) and Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Slaskie, Poland) both made moves in the third round of the World Amateur Team Championship, which concluded late Thursday (early Friday in Japan).

Meronk began the round at 2-over for the championship, but the Buccaneer junior climbed up the leaderboard by firing a 6-under-par 66 on Iriyama Course to move into a tie for 49th. Meronk enjoyed a bogey-free round and carded six birdies, including five on the back nine. The Buccaneer standout posted three consecutive birdies on No. 14, 15, 16, moving to 4-under-par 211 for the championship.

Meanwhile, Gradecki continued his strong play by finishing with a 3-under 69, moving into a tie for 39th at 5-under-par 210. Gradecki totaled two birdies on the front and two more on the back nine, while his lone blemish was a bogey on the par-4, 384-yard No. 17. The bogey came right after the Buccaneer sophomore registered back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and 16.

Following the strong rounds, Meronk and Gradecki moved Poland into a tie for 27th with their Buccaneer teammate Rhys Pugh’s (Pontypridd, Wales) Welsh team.

Pugh finished with a third round score of 1-over 73 on the Oshitate Course. For the tournament, Pugh is 1-over-par 215 and tied for 92nd in the 200-player field. Pugh – who finished with four birdies and five bogeys in the round – was even-par thru the first 13 holes, but a bogey on No. 5 and 7 moved the Buccaneer senior to 2-over for the round before carding a birdie on the par-3, 199-yard No. 8.

After holding the individual lead for the first two rounds, Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult moved to third at 16-under-par 198, while Spain’s Jon Rahm captured the overall lead following third round play at 18-under-par 196. Rahm fired a 9-under 62 in the third round from the Oshitate Course.

In team scoring, the United States leaped into first at 31-under-par and the Americans have a three shot lead over Sweden and six stroke lead over Spain heading into the final round.

The championship, which began Tuesday evening in the U.S. (Wednesday morning in Japan), ends late Friday (early Saturday in Japan).

Pugh is scheduled to tee off the final round today at 5:30 p.m. EDT from the first hole of the Iriyama Course, while Meronk (6:40 p.m. EDT) and Gradecki (6:50 p.m. EDT) from No. 1 of the Oshitate Course.

Click here for live scoring.

About the World Amateur Team Championship

The World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur competition, begun in 1958. It is conducted by the International Golf Federation, which comprises national governing bodies of golf in 126 countries and international professional tours. The competition, which is being held for the 29th time, is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa. 

The teams play for the Eisenhower Trophy. The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and will conduct the Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.

Click here for more information on the World Amateur Team Championship.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.