About this time a year ago, Marco Penge of England was outside the top 400 in the world and had just secured his European tour card by making a nervy putt on his final hole.
The last 12 months must feel like a blur.
The European tour suspended him for two months for making small-time bets in 2022 on tournaments he didn’t play, before he had gone through the tour’s integrity program. Penge owned the mistake and vowed to never do it again.
Instead, he won in China for his first European tour title. He was runner-up in the Scottish Open, won in Denmark and captured his third title in the Spanish Open. That leaves him in range of Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai going into the final two events of the season.
Penge is 441 points behind McIlroy going into the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“I still am in disbelief in a way that I am in the position that I am,” Penge said Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. “Not from the point that I don’t think I’m good enough, just from the point of how fast it’s happened.”
There are other perks. He already has locked up a PGA Tour card awarded to the leading 10 players on the European tour, known commercially as the DP World Tour. Amid chatter he might be a target for LIV Golf, Penge and his wife headed to the United States to start house hunting for the year.
This is a big week for more than just the Race to Dubai. Penge is at No. 29 in the world ranking, and there are some valuable points at stake for next year. The criteria for the $20 million signature events on the PGA Tour include top 30 in the world ranking.
“I’ve looked at the schedule and fully aware that I think that if you’re top 30 in the world before an elevated event, you get into that tournament,” he said. “I’m a numbers guy, so I’ve done a bit of math, worked out where I want to be.
“But yeah, always trying to be playing in the majors and the elevated events and start my season over there and come back over here to play tournaments like this.”
Penge will be playing with McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton the opening two rounds in Abu Dhabi. It will be his first time playing with McIlroy, who is trying to be Europe’s No. 1 for the seventh time, and fourth in a row.
“It’s nothing to be scared of. I just want to enjoy the moment and enjoy the experience, being in this position and playing with the top players of the world,” Penge said.