Lower than 18 months after being banned from the game for a betting scandal, English golfer Marco Penge will play in The Masters.
The DP World Tour participant booked his place at Augusta Nationwide with a playoff victory towards countryman Daniel Brown on the Spanish Open in Madrid on Sunday.
It was Penge’s third European title of the season, and the 27-year-old’s breakout marketing campaign comes after a delayed begin to the yr with a three-month ban.
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Final December, Penge was handed the suspension as he was discovered to have positioned bets on golf throughout 2022 and 2023.
The common wager was £24 (A$49) and Penge by no means positioned a wager on a match he performed in.
He has bounced again from all-time low strongly, nonetheless, and now he is able to problem Rory McIlroy for the DP World Tour title within the Race to Dubai.
Throughout his darkish occasions, Penge was additionally identified with ADHD and his journey thus far this yr has been a heartwarming one.
His timing was additionally spot on as this was the primary yr that the Spanish Open title got here with a Masters berth in addition to a assured begin at The Open, simply because the Australian Open will in December.
Penge can be assured a PGA Tour card for subsequent season, and has shot as much as No.31 within the Official World Golf Rankings from No.55 firstly of the week.
If he can preserve his place within the prime 50, he’ll function in any respect the majors subsequent season.
He’s additionally already placing his title ahead for the European Ryder Cup workforce in Eire in two years’ time.
“I’m happy with the place I’ve come within the final yr,” Penge mentioned.
“After lacking out on the Ryder Cup, my subsequent aim was to get into the highest 50 on this planet. To play the remainder of the season figuring out I’m within the Masters, having gained the Spanish Open, three wins this yr, and in addition qualifying for subsequent yr’s Open … properly, I’m simply so grateful for the alternatives I’ve had and for taking advantage of them.
“I’m fairly certain I’ll be in all 4 majors subsequent yr, and I by no means would’ve thought that six or seven months in the past. I need to hold going for extra. Hopefully, I can win once more earlier than the tip of the yr and perhaps even catch Rory.”
Penge sealed victory on the primary sudden-death gap in Madrid, after Brown had come again from 5 photographs behind heading into the final spherical.
“It felt like I used to be actually up towards it, however I really feel like I managed myself rather well and managed to remain strong,” Penge mentioned.
“I felt good. I used to be simply attempting to stay to the identical stuff I’ve been doing for the final six months.”
Penge additionally gained the Hainan Traditional and the Danish Golf Championship earlier this yr.
The 27-year-old struggled to a two-over entrance 9 to present taking part in companions Brown and Joel Girrbach hope after beginning the day 4 strokes clear on the prime of the leaderboard, however a birdie on the twelfth helped him keep in entrance.
Brown, ranked 102nd, compelled added holes with a birdie on the 18th, a brief par 4.
However Penge turned the tables after they performed the closing gap once more a couple of minutes later within the playoff to take the spoils.
Switzerland’s Girrbach completed alone in third place on 14-under for the match, one shot exterior the playoff.
Three-time champion and residential favorite Jon Rahm delighted the crowds with a final-round 65 to complete in a tie for ninth.
It was the Spaniard’s fifteenth prime ten of the yr, however he’s winless for 2025 regardless of claiming the LIV Golf particular person title.
Rahm additionally later confirmed that it will likely be his ultimate occasion of the yr, and won’t play once more till the LIV season begins in February.
That call comes as his lawsuit with the DP World Tour over unpaid LIV fines is ready to ramp up earlier than the tip of the yr, and it may result in his expulsion from the tour and the European Ryder Cup workforce.