England’s Marco Penge is having a breakout season on the DP World Tour and the 26-year-old is gunning to overtake world number two, Rory McIlroy atop the Race to Dubai standings.
With three victories already under his belt this year – including the prestigious Spanish Open – Penge knows exactly what’s required but even outright victory might not be enough to claim the Harry Vardon Trophy and etch his name alongside legends like Seve Ballesteros, Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els, Pádraig Harrington and McIlroy himself.
Entering the week, Penge trails Rory but holds a mathematical shot at the crown, needing to win and for McIlroy to finish worse than solo second. There are other, unlikelier scenarios, but the victory is the one Penge is targeting.
“I’m aware that I need to win this tournament to win the Race to Dubai,” he admitted in a pre-tournament interview.
The stakes are amplified by his pairing with McIlroy in the opening rounds – a marquee matchup but one that he’s earned as the pairings are based on the Race to Dubai rankings and McIlroy and Penge are one and two respectively. Penge views it not as intimidation, but opportunity. “I’ll be just in his shadow, I suppose, and trying to follow him around the golf course,” he laughed, referencing McIlroy’s course pedigree as a four-time Earth Course champion while Penge will be making his first appearance in the event.
Last week at the Abu Dhabi Championship, he played alongside McIlroy for the first two rounds, gleaning insights into the six-time Harry Vardon trophy winner’s approach.
“Watching Rory play golf, making the most of that experience. Learning from him like I did last week,” Penge explained.
There is a third scenario that could see Tyrrell Hatton crowned Race to Dubai champion with a victory and Penge finishing outside the top two, and McIlroy outside the top eight, but Penge can only focus on his own game and the player playing alongside him.
An uphill task is made all the harder by the fact that an early-week illness forced him to spend a couple of days in bed, but despite missing the Pro-Am, there was never a danger that he wouldn’t be on the first tee alongside McIlroy.
“Regardless of how I feel, I was going to be there on Thursday. Obviously I’m playing with Rory in the final event,” he said, and admitted that he did manage to squeeze in nine holes and liked what he saw.
“I think the course is great, it suits my game pretty well. I’d like to have had a little more prep, but I was actually lying in bed yesterday watching Rory play all four rounds from last year on YouTube, so I felt like I had a pretty good idea before I got here today. I was seeing what holes he hits driver off, etc. and I’ll get a good idea tomorrow as well when I watch him play.”
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