“What doesn’t kill you makes your stronger.”
Those were the words of Marco Penge on Sunday in Hainan Island, China, where the 26-year-old Englishman now stands stronger than ever. Just a few months ago, Penge was serving a ban for violating the DP World Tour’s integrity policy. Now, he was a winner on the global tour for the first time.
Penge entered the final round of the Hainan Classic tied with home favorite Bowen Xiao for the lead. When Penge made the turn, he was a shot back of Sean Crocker, who would later close in 66 and tie Kristoffer Reitan for second. But birdies at Nos. 12-14 pushed Penge into the lead, which he would never relinquish. A 65-67 weekend put Penge at 17 under, three shots clear of the field in his 47th career DPWT start.
“This obviously means the world to me,” said Penge, who joined Keita Nakajima and Eugenio Chacarra in qualifying for next month’s PGA Championship via the DPWT’s Asian swing standings. “It’s something that I’ve always dreamt of achieving, winning on the biggest stage. After my time off, it was the thing that I wanted to really prove to myself and prove to everyone, to show what a player I am.”
Penge was suspended for two months in December after it was determined that he had placed bets on multiple golf tournaments. Penge said that 68% of his bets were placed before he took the DP World’s integrity course in March 2023, and that he never bet on himself or on tournaments he was competing in. His average bet was 24 pounds, and his total profit was about 250 pounds.
“This was all a genuine and honest mistake that I have taken full responsibility for, and I will never, ever make the same mistake again,” Penge said.
Penge is used to conquering adversity. He underwent major surgery on his right knee in 2021, and then two years later placed atop the Challenge Tour’s order of merit to earn promotion to the DPWT. Last season, Penge needed to make a nervy par putt on his final hole of the Genesis Championship to finish at No. 110 in the Race to Dubai and just retain his card for this year. Entering this week, he had been T-26 or better in four of six starts post-suspension.
He and his wife, Sophie, welcomed their first child, son Enzo, last June. Penge said he watched some videos of Enzo laughing and smiling during Sunday’s final round.
“It gave me a bit of that inner strength today,” Penge said.
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