‘I’ve an eye on keeping Marco at bay’ – Rory McIlroy focused on holding off Penge in quest for seventh Race to Dubai
The world number two tees it up alongside the Englishman at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, knowing that he will have to be at his best to close out the season-long battle for the Harry Vardon Trophy and put a cherry atop the most memorable year of his career.
“I have to play well,” McIlroy said of a tournament where finishing alone in second would be enough to hold off Penge.
“The last couple of times I’ve wrapped up here, I’ve pretty much had the Race to Dubai in the bag, and I could just focus on trying to win the tournament.
“This week I’ve got one eye on trying to win the tournament but then another eye on making sure I keep Marco at bay.”
McIlroy has a brilliant record at the season event, which he won for the third time last year.
He’s finished in the top ten in 11 of his 14 starts and has been outside the top five just five times.
If he wins, he will rack up his 42nd win in 434 starts worldwide. But with only a 767.02-point lead over Penge and with 2,000 points on offer for the winner, he can’t afford to be complacent.
Marco Penge of England and Rory McIlroy of Ireland shake hands. Picture: Getty Images
Penge can finish in a three-way tie for second and become European number one, but only if McIlroy finishes outside the top 24, which is something he has never done in 14 appearances in the event.
A Penge win would force McIlroy to finish worse than solo second, while Tyrrell Hatton, the only other player with a chance of becoming European number one, needs to win and hope McIlroy finishes worse than tied eighth.
That Penge is in with a mathematical chance of winning the Harry Vardon Trophy is a major achievement, considering he had to scramble a par on the final hole of his final counting event last year to keep his card.
He has since won three times, challenged for a Ryder Cup spot, and secured one of ten dual memberships on the PGA Tour via the Race to Dubai.
“He’s had an amazing year, winning three times,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, he’s an amazing talent.
“I got to play with him the first two days last week. Hits it a mile. He looks really, really good over it. It doesn’t look like he has a ton of weaknesses.
“I think the only thing he needs to do is gain experience, and gain experience playing in different courses and different conditions.
“He definitely looks like he has a strong future.”
Penege has been under the weather this week, but assessing his year overall, he’s more than pleased.
“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,” he said.
He credits topping the HotelPlanner Tour rankings in 2023 with helping him reach the level required to compete and win on the main Tour, which is now the goal for a host of Irish players next season.
“Personally, I think the HotelPlanner Tour is always classic for European golf and that’s where the talent is going to come from,” he said.
As for going toe to toe with McIlroy, he’s under no illusions.
“He has more experience in me in every area of the game and on every stage in golf but I’m just approaching the week, watching Rory play golf, making the most of that experience,” he said.
The $10 million event is huge for the Tour, which yesterday announced that it had extended its deal with title partner DP World until 2035.
Tom McKibbin, who continues to impress as he combines DP World Tour events with LIV Golf, enters the week ranked 46th in the Race to Dubai.
Shane Lowry and Ludvig Aberg — who can win prize money but no Race to Dubai points — bring the field to 52 as they didn’t make the top 50 who qualified by right but are additions to the field as Ryder Cup team members.
Eight members of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team are in action this week, and the Offaly man is aware of how important DP World is to the Tour, which announced a 10-year extension to its title partner agreement with the Dubai-owned logistics giant this week.
“I think it’s amazing,” Lowry said. “It’s amazing when you’re part of something that has companies like DP World involved, and to see them put their trust and support in the Tour, in our Tour, is great.
“And obviously for all of us out here, but most notably the younger players, to have big companies on board and investing in our tour all the time is very, very important.”
