HOUSTON — Marco Penge tried to sneak out of the house for an hour here or there to get in some practice. His mind was anywhere but the golf course.
Marco and his wife Sophie’s second child, Romeo, were in a Jupiter, Florida, hospital. Romeo was born Feb. 24 with underdeveloped lungs, and he was stuck in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 21 days.
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“They think he was two weeks younger than he actually was,” Penge said. “He was just a little bit behind schedule. The three weeks were really tough for my wife, especially. I think for any mother giving birth to then go home without your child, it’s really tough.”
Penge, who is playing his first season on the PGA Tour after relocating his family from England to Florida, played four straight weeks before taking time off for Romeo’s birth. Then he and Sophie spent countless hours in the hospital as doctors worked to keep Romeo alive.
Those hours turned into days.
Penge returned to competition at the Players, but he mentally wasn’t in Ponte Vedra Beach and had hardly touched a club since contending at the Genesis Invitational on the other side of the country. Any preparation he tried to go through, his mind was on Romeo and Sophie and their other child, Enzo.
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“My head wasn’t really at the Players, if I’m honest,” Penge said. “Knowing that I was leaving them at home and leaving while the little guy was still in the NICU unit was quite upsetting for me, not being able to be there to support my wife.”
More: Marco Penge is primed to be the PGA Tour’s next breakout star in 2026
On March 17, two days after the Players concluded, Romeo was released from the NICU and was able to go home for the first time.
But Romeo and the Penge family didn’t go home for long. Sophie loaded the kids up and drove to Palm Harbor, Florida, where Penge was set to tee it up at the Valspar Championship last week. It was the first time Sophie, a former professional golfer herself, and Penge’s kids got to watch him play since coming to the PGA Tour.
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“My caddie actually booked an Airbnb for just me and him, so when they came, we were all squished in,” Penge said. “It was pretty wild, pretty chaotic.”
Marco Penge of England lines up a putt on the seventh green during the first round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
But having his family with him proved pivotal. Penge finished T-4 at the Copperhead Course, his best finish of the year. And to begin Thursday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, Penge opened with a bogey-free 4-under 66, sitting inside the top five after the opening round.
“I think if things are good off the course and you’ve kind of got some distractions there when you leave the golf club, I think it can only be beneficial for you, especially with the way I started out here,” Penge said. “It was kind of like an off switch.”
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Penge’s family remained in Florida this week, as little Romeo can’t fly for a few months, as his lungs and body continue to grow. They plan to make the trek to Augusta in a couple of weeks when Penge makes his Masters debut, which will be another rejuvenating moment.
“She came out to watch on the back nine every day because we had a dog there as well, so we couldn’t leave him for too long,” Penge said. “Just seeing my oldest, who’s only one-and-a-half, seeing how happy and excited he was to see me out on the golf course and kind of clapping and shouting, ‘Dada.’ It was kind of like my focus was more on them while I was playing, which can only be good at times, if you know what I mean.
“So it was nice to be able to switch in and out of kind of focusing on my shot, and then the other time I was kind of just watching my family and seeing them, and my wife’s really wanted to kind of experience life on the PGA Tour. So it’s really nice for her to kind of get out here and see what it’s like and meet some of the wives and staff.”
Marco Penge of England speaks to his caddie Sophie Lamb on the 18th during Day One of the Hero Open at Marriott Forest of Arden on July 30, 2020 in Birmingham, England.
Another part of Penge’s recent turnaround is his equipment. Penge switched to using PXG clubs this year and he struggled to stay patient while he and his team worked to find the right combination of clubs for him. Week by week, the feel and shots started to come.
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After winning three times on the DP World Tour last year and finishing runner-up to only Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, Penge came to the PGA Tour with elevated expectations. After missing his first two cuts, there was some struggle with knowing his swing felt good, but the equipment wasn’t giving him what he wanted out of shots.
Now, his gear is dialed in, and his focus is fully on the golf course for the first time. And he’s trending closer and closer to breaking through in the United States.
“You’re obviously not 100 percent sure whether it’s you, whether it’s the clubs,” Penge said. “I had my coach out a couple of times, and he’s saying, ‘Look, you’re swinging it well, I think we need to change this with the clubs, etc.’ It can be frustrating, but at the same time, I knew what I signed up for.”
And with his focus fully on golf in Houston, Penge is trending in the right direction.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour rookie Marco Penge’s son spent 21 days in the NICU
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