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Fans at Yas Links were treated to a brilliant pairing on Thursday, as Marco Penge teed it up alongside Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton for the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship. The Northern Irishman has just about done it all in golf, while Penge is still at the beginning of his professional career. Despite their different stages, both have made headlines recently. One thing missing from McIlroy’s resume, though, is a win at the Abu Dhabi Championship, and he will be eager to put that right. Penge and McIlroy are two of the main long hitters in the game currently. Fans got a look at their power on Thursday as both let loose early in their rounds. The 27-year-old made headlines before their round after the Northern Irishman mentioned that watching the Horsham native had given him extra motivation to work on his own game. But what did Penge make of sharing a fairway with someone like McIlroy? Marco Penge shares his thoughts on playing with Rory McIlroy in Abu Dhabi The two of them gave the fans plenty to enjoy at Yas Links, both showing off their power game right from the start. Both players are known for their distance off the tee, and they traded impressive drives throughout the day, each having moments where they had the upper hand. Penge was later asked what it felt like to play a round alongside a player he has long admired, and he responded: “Yeah, it was great. I mean, obviously what I think of my game compared to obviously playing with him today, I’ll probably keep to myself, but it was good. “It was good. Rory maybe wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but yeah, it was cool to play with like a Grand Slam winner and a legend of European golf, world golf. “Yeah, nice to have a chat also on the way around.” McIlroy seemed comfortable chatting with Penge during their round in Abu Dhabi. It was quite different from how things went down during his Masters final round alongside Bryson DeChambeau earlier this year. After that round at Augusta National when McIlroy won his first Green Jacket by holding off DeChambeau by two shots, the American complained that McIlroy did not say much between shots. Penge’s comments in Abu Dhabi made it clear there was not any tension like that this time around. He mentioned how relaxed things felt playing alongside one of golf’s legends in McIlroy. Marco Penge gives his verdict on opening round 67 in Abu Dhabi The 27-year-old put together a strong first round, but did he feel satisfied with how it played out? Penge was asked for his thoughts on that opening effort at Yas Links, and gave an honest assessment. “Yeah, pretty solid. Obviously got off to a hot start, which was nice. Just made a couple of errors on 3 and 4. I think I made seven or eight birdies out there, six birdies and an eagle. Plenty of good stuff. “Yeah, I played great. Just a couple of 3-putts, left a couple chips. It was my first round back after three weeks off, and also playing with Rory and Tyrrell. So there’s a different environment for me, in a way. I loved it. It was great.” Penge is the type of player who can catch fire quickly, so he will back himself to make up ground heading into Friday.
