Marco Penge is relishing the chance to round off an impressive season by going head-to-head with Rory McIlroy for the chance to be crowned both DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai champion.
Related: McIlroy targets seventh Race to Dubai title
Second-placed Penge is looking to overhaul the World Number Two and five-time Major winner in the Race to Dubai Rankings, needing to finish at least in a runner-up spot at Jumeirah Golf Estates for a chance to be named European Number One for the first time in his career.
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Penge, who earned his playing rights for this season with a birdie at the 36th hole of the Genesis Championship in South Korea last October, has won three times on the DP World Tour this year and he is looking to enjoy the occasion ahead of the final event of the 2025 campaign.
The Englishman is teeing it up in the season-ending tournament for the first time this week, and he is looking forward to taking on the man he describes as the “greatest player of his generation” with the leading pair set to tee it up together on Thursday.
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With 2,000 Race to Dubai Rankings points available to the winner, Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are the only players in the 52-man field who can stop McIlroy from claiming a seventh Race to Dubai title on Sunday, with Penge in need of at least a second-place finish, and depending on McIlroy’s result, to prevail.
In addition to the two trophies on offer, Penge is set to earn dual membership on the PGA TOUR next season as one of the leading ten eligible players on the Race to Dubai Rankings at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship. The ten players currently in those spots are Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, John Parry, Alex Noren, Laurie Canter, Haotong Li, Dan Brown, Keita Nakajima and Jordan Smith.
Player quotes
Marco Penge: To have the chance to win the Race to Dubai is unbelievable really. Where I’ve come over the last nine months is still something that I almost still in disbelief in a way.
My game has improved so much this year, I’ve gained so much experience with playing with the top players in the world. Last week playing with Rory (McIlroy) is a massive experience for me and to play as well as I did in front of him was something I was very proud of.
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I love it. I love playing in front of crowds, I love playing with the best players in the world. There’s nothing better than playing with Rory McIlroy. He’s the greatest player of my generation.
Just enjoying the moment. Didn’t do a lot of work the last couple days (felt poorly). So just happy to be sitting here and lucky to have a day of prep before tomorrow. My expectations are in a good place. Go out there and put on a good show with Rory.
I feel like I’ve proved myself a lot under pressure in big moments that I can do it, and obviously started with keeping my card. Then winning the first time in China and dealing with adversity, and going head-to-head with Rory in The Scottish Open, and then two more wind on the DP World Tour. I feel like I’ve kind of dealt with every situation as well as I possibly could over the last year or so.
I mean, I have a lot of proof in the pudding and if I fail this week, that’s fine because I’ve been so successful over the last year. There’s a lot of good things to look back on.
