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Marco Penge had been on the cusp of losing his DP World Tour card a little over 12 months ago. Now he’s house-hunting in the USA, as the Englishman, who won three times on the DP World Tour this season, prepares for his debut season on the PGA Tour. ‘I went to America after winning in Spain with my wife to try to house hunt and all that stuff and get some things in place,’ the 27-year-old Open de Espana winner said ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at the Yas Golf Links. Two years ago, he broke onto the scene after gaining his DP World Tour Card with a victory on the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final. Now, he is in the running to snag one of the 10 PGA Tour cards that are up for grabs on the DP World Tour this season. His rise has been nothing short of meteoric, and even he can't believe what he's achieved so far in his career. ‘I still am in disbelief in a way that I am in the position that I am. Not from the point that I don't think I'm good enough, just from the point of how fast it's happened,’ Penge explained. Penge is currently second in the Race to Dubai rankings, approximately 500 points behind Rory McIlroy and has a chance to leapfrog the Masters champion with a win in Abu Dhabi this week at the top of the leaderboard. There is a sense of excitement around Penge at the prospect of playing alongside his hero McIlroy for the first time this week, with European Ryder Cup hero Tyrrell Hatton also set to join the pair as they tee up at the Yas Golf Links on Thursday. ‘For me, he [McIlroy] is the best player in my generation of kind of watching golf,’ he said on McIlroy, who he trails in the Race To Dubai standings by 500 points. ‘He's been so successful, and I think a lot of guys in my age group really look up to him not just as a golfer but as a person.’ But the 27-year-old says he isn’t feeling the nerves ahead of Thursday. ‘I know on Thursday morning when I step on the tee I'm going to have some adrenaline because I'm playing with one of the best players in the world for the first time. ‘I don't think I'm going to be too nervous. It's purely the adrenaline, similar to how I felt in the playoff at the Spanish Open. I've got a lot of things in place to prepare for that. Fully aware of it already in my head that that's how I'm going to feel. But I clarified with my psychologist that I tend to play my best golf when I feel like that. ‘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, like McIlroy, is one of the biggest hitters on the professional tours, and currently ranks fifth on the DP World Tour for driving distance. While he has a job to do in Abu Dhabi this week, it’ll also be a huge learning experience for Penge, who is aiming to soak up as much as he can from the Career Grand Slam winner. ‘I compare a lot of parts of my game to him,’ he added. ‘I am excited to see what I think my strengths are compared to him on Thursday and see where I can improve.’ However, it appears some of the best players in the game have also been coming to the Englishman to seek out some swing advice, including none other than this year’s FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood. ‘Just to be in the presence of the Ryder Cup players and spending some time with Tommy last week was so good,’ he said. ‘He [Fleetwood] is asking me questions, kind of picking my brain and I said to him, like: “I think you're asking the wrong guy. It should be the other way around.” It just shows what the top players do. They are always trying to get better. I gave him a couple of nuggets, and I'm sure he'll give me plenty down the line.’ Pressed on what he told Fleetwood, Penge explained: ‘He was just asking me some questions about driving the ball. Picking my brain a little bit.’ ‘Kind of forced me into having a driver session with him,’ he added joking. ‘I was kind of done for the day, and I actually pulled a chair up behind him to watch him for half an hour, but ended up both of us kind of helping each other in a way. ‘It's obviously probably an area of his game that he might feel he can get a little more out of, or he sees me as one of the best drivers of the ball, which statistically I kind of am. ‘So yeah, just a friendly chat of what I kind of do and what I see and what I think. We played the next day, and he was kind of saying that he's “going to hit the Marco ball down here” and I'm like: “I can't even enjoy myself, not sure where you're getting that from.”’ Penge has proved that he can dance with the best of them, having battled with McIlroy earlier this season at the Genesis Scottish Open, with the pair ultimately finishing tied for second place behind Chris Gotterup. The Englishman, who has also spent time away from the tours over the past four years due to injury and suspension, lifted the lid on the elation he felt after claiming his first DP World Tour victory at the Hainan Classic in April. And having had tasted victory three times this year, he insists: ‘I want to get into double-digits in my career’. Though, he is under no illusions about how difficult next season on the PGA Tour could be. ‘I think it's easy from the outside to look at my progression and think: “He'll go to the PGA TOUR and smash it”. ‘I think it's going to be a lot tougher than most people think, change of environment, having to move my family to America, new courses, playing in America; that I don't have much experience and playing against the best players in the world. I'm certainly aware it's not going to be easy.’ While victories are important, Penge explained that he is just going to try and enjoy the ride. ‘I'm also excited to play the majors, and especially the Masters,’ he explained. ‘It's going to be awesome. ‘I just want to enjoy it because the last six months for me, it has changed so much, and it can easily do that the other way.’
