Could Marco Penge be the next Ludvig Aberg? If you asked me two years ago about Penge, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you much.
Nor would most of the golfing world who are on the outside looking in. All eyes at that time were on Ludvig Aberg’s swift ascension in the game and the conundrum of whether he’d get a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup.
At 14th in the European Ryder Cup points list and with automatic qualification ending at the Betfred British Masters Penge can’t move up into the six automatic qualification spots for Bethpage Black.
But, like Aberg at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in 2023, he could force his way into Luke Donald’s side. Penge is one spot ahead of compatriot Aaron Rai who is also making waves in the sport.
Penge is a ball striking phenomenon as he demonstrated with finesse in his first made cut at a major where he finished tied for 28th at the PGA Championship, bookending with rounds of 69. Penge ranked number one in ‘strokes gained off the tee’ and no.2 in tee to green performance that week.
In 2025 on the DP World Tour the Englishman is eighth in ‘driving distance’ and sixth in ‘greens in regulation’ percentage. He’s third in ‘stroke average’ and ranked fourth in ‘driving distance’ in 2024. Ahead of the ‘back nine’ swing Penge sits second in the Race to Dubai.
The golf tipsters on FIRST.com rate Penge highly and he’s already won twice on the DP World Tour at the Hainan Classic and at the Danish Golf Championship. He won the DP World Tour’s ‘Closing Swing’ and picked up £150,000 in bonus money. Arguably his biggest performance to date is finishing second alongside Rory McIlroy at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open.
Penge’s biggest honour as an amateur was winning the Scottish Amateur Strokeplay Championship in 2015. The 27-year-old went on to win once on the EuroPro Tour in Ireland. Penge then won twice on the Hotel Planner Tour including a blitzing of the Challenge Tour Grand Final field in 2023 which propelled him onto the DP World Tour stage.
The rookie only barely managed to keep his card in 2024 making birdie late on at the Genesis Championship in South Korea to make the cut and go on to finish t22. Penge’s career hasn’t been without obstacles.
He has suffered with big injury setbacks; personal problems, and he faced a short suspension from the DP World Tour early in 2025 for breaching the golf betting rules.
It remains to be seen just how high Marco Penge’s ceiling is while he rises through the rankings.
At the end of 2025 he’s looking to pick up a PGA Tour card and break into the world’s top 50. He’s already made the Play-offs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and he could yet pip Rory McIlroy to the Race to Dubai title.
Other Englishmen in the top 10 of the standings are Tyrell Hatton, John Parry, Laurie Canter and Jordan Smith. Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Dan Brown lurk just outside.
Perhaps the sky is the limit for Penge.
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