Marco Penge didn’t hesitate when asked to reflect.
“It’s been the year of my life,” said the 27-year-old Englishman, whose T-22 finish Sunday in the DP World Tour Championship earned him a runner-up spot in the final Race to Dubai standings, which came with one of 10 PGA Tour cards given to the top finishers in the European circuit’s season-long battle.
Penge won three times this year, starting at the Hainan Classic in April, just one month after he returned from a three-month suspension for placing a few small bets on golf tournaments in which he wasn’t playing. Penge was used to overcoming adversity, as he underwent major right-knee surgery in 2021 and last season needed to hole a nervy par putt on his final hole of the Genesis Championship just to finish No. 110 in the Race to Dubai and keep his full card.
Now, Penge is headed to the U.S. next year, along with nine other players, including England’s Laurie Canter, a former LIV Golf reserve who tied for third in Dubai to vault to No. 7 in points. Also qualifying for the PGA Tour were Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (8), France’s Adrien Saddier (9), Sweden’s Alex Noren (10), England’s John Parry (11), China’s Haotong Li (13), Japan’s Keita Nakajima (14), Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (15) and England’s Jordan Smith (16). Neergaard-Petersen, a former standout at Oklahoma State, also tied for third, jumping four spots and past names such as Daniel Brown, Daniel Hillier and Martin Couvra, who all lost ground in the Race to Dubai this week and subsequently missed out on PGA Tour cards.
“I’m looking forward to playing the big events over on that side of the pond,” Penge added. “Obviously looking forward to playing in all majors next year and play against the best players in the world like we are this week. The standard is different when you’re playing against the best guys. I will miss it here. I’ll miss the players, the staff, just the tour in general. This is where I’ve started and a place I’m not going to forget.
“Hopefully, I’ll be playing as much as I can back on the DP World Tour when that season is finished. It won’t be the last time you see me.”
