Always bet on yourself.
That’s the moral of the story of Marco Penge.
The 26-year-old Englishman was suspended from the DP World Tour in late December for violating the circuit’s “integrity program” and given a three-month suspension for placing wagers on several golf events in 2022.
On Sunday, he birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch to shoot a final-round 5-under 67 at the Blackstone Course at Mission Hills Resort Haikou, Hainan Island, China, to won the DP World Tour’s Hainan Classic by three strokes over Sean Crocker and Kristoffer Reitan.
It marked his first win on the circuit. “This obviously means the world to me,” said Penge, who previously won twice on the Challenge Tour, the DP World Tour’s developmental circuit, in 2023. “It’s something that I’ve always dreamt of achieving—winning on the biggest stage.”
Penge surged into contention with a 65 in the third round but made an early bogey in the final round and walked off the fifth green at 1 over for the day.
“I said to my caddie walking off the green, ‘I feel like I’m swinging it great,’ ” he said. “I knew if I just stayed patient I’d have a lot of chances.”
He did just that and now he’s put his suspension behind him in grand fashion. “After my time off,” he said, referring to three-month hiatus for breaching the rules on gambling, “it was the thing that I wanted to really prove to myself and prove to everyone, to show what a player I am.”
He added: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Penge also earned an exemption into the PGA Championship next month at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. He already had qualified for the British Open last month off a strong showing at the South African Open.
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