Trio of Bucs set to play at Open Championship

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 19, 2023

HOYLAKE, England – The 151st Open Championship will feature a trio of Buccaneers.

Former ETSU men’s golfers Adrian Meronk, Seamus Power and Michael Stewart will tee it up this week at the Open Championship, which will be held at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.

Meronk, playing in his second career Open Championship, tees off Thursday at 2:19 a.m. ET and will go out in Friday’s second round at 7:20 a.m. ET. Meronk is grouped with Pablo Larrazabal and Hiroshi Iwata. Meronk made the cut at last year’s Open Championship at St. Andrews as he finished tied for 40th. Since then, Meronk has gone on to win the Australian Open and Italian Open, while he made his Masters debut back in April.

Power is grouped with fellow Irishman and two-time Open Champion Padraig Harrington, along with Talor Gooch. This group will tee off Thursday at 4:14 a.m. and then on Friday at 9:15 a.m. This marks Power’s second career Open Championship and it’s the only Major he has yet to make the cut.

Stewart will be in the second-to-last group to go out on Thursday as he tees it up at his first-ever Open Championship at 11:05 a.m. The threesome will then go out Friday at 6:04 a.m. Stewart, making his debut at a major, earned his spot into the 151st Open Championship by winning the qualifying event at Dundonald Links in Scotland on July 5. Stewart posted a 36-hole score of 7-under-par 137 (71-66).

All three Bucs are conference champions as Stewart won the 2009 ASUN title as a freshman, while Power won the ASUN in 2007 and again in 2010. Meronk won the Southern Conference championship in 2016 at Pinehurst. Power was named ASUN Freshman of the Year in 2007 and ASUN Player of the Year in 2010, while Stewart was tabbed ASUN Freshman of the Year in 2009. Meronk was a two-time SoCon Player of the Year as he won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016.

Cameron Smith is the reigning Open Champion, Rory McIlroy – who signed a national letter of intent to play for ETSU in 2004 – won the Open Championship the last time it was hosted at Royal Liverpool 2014. Tiger Woods won the 2006 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, while Buccaneer All-American Rhys Davies won the 2003 British Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Fans can watch the 2023 Open Championship on USA and NBC. The first two rounds will be televised on USA from 4 a.m. – 3 p.m., while Saturday’s third round will start on USA from 5-7 a.m., followed by coverage on NBC from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday’s final round begins on USA from 4-7 a.m., with NBC picking up coverage at 7 a.m.