Staff WriterMarco Penge blazed his way to a maiden DP World Tour triumph at the Hainan Classic, securing victory by three strokes at Mission Hills Haikou.
Penge’s closing 67 underlined a composed grandstand finish that left a charging Sean Crocker and Kristoffer Reitan trailing on 14 under par.
A Rocky Opening, Then a Rampage
The 26-year-old Englishman didn’t exactly break into Sunday with fireworks. A bogey at the par-five second hole left him scrambling early, and by the time he teed off on the sixth, he was one over for the day.
But Penge shook off the slow start with successive birdies at six, seven and nine, slipping into red numbers and nudging clear of the field.
Meanwhile, American Sean Crocker was making his move, rattling off two birdies and an eagle from holes ten through twelve.
Yet even as Crocker threatened to steal the headlines, Penge weathered the storm—only briefly surrendering a shot at the eleventh before finding the accelerator once more.
Back-Nine Brilliance
Marco Penge’s timely hat-trick of birdies at 12, 13 and 14 was the coup de grâce, propelling him from the pack and putting the contest out of reach.
Those clutch swings not only showcased his iron-clad nerve but also demonstrated the shot-making flair that marked him out as the 2023 HotelPlanner Tour Number One.
By the time he tapped in on 18 to card a 67, Penge had opened up a three-shot cushion on his nearest rivals.
Crocker and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan shared runner-up honours on 14 under, with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen a single stroke further adrift. Frenchman Martin Couvra rounded out the top five on 13 under.
What This Means for Penge’s Season
Beyond the applause in Haikou, Penge’s breakthrough carries heavyweight rewards.
His triumph vaults him to third on the Asian Swing Rankings—and straight into next month’s U.S. PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
Marco Penge: This obviously means the world to me. It’s something that I’ve always dreamt of achieving – winning on the biggest stage.
After my time off it was the thing that I wanted to really prove to myself and prove to everyone, to show what a player I am.
We spend a lot of time away from home. All of us lads are doing this for our wives, our families, our kids – to be able to say that I’ve won on the DP World Tour when my son’s a little older and kind of be a hero to him.
Before this Swing started, I said to my caddie, I think it was in Singapore, I said my goal is to get in the US PGA Championship.
That’s something that I’d love to do. Obviously coming here, I hadn’t had a top five or anything like that, so I’d kind of forgotten about it a little bit, but it popped in my head last night.
I thought, well, if I win tomorrow, maybe I might get in the PGA and I’ve already qualified for The Open.
To be able to play against the best players in the world and see where I’m at compared to them would just be an unbelievable experience and something I’m looking forward to.
I’m the person driving the car, my family and my team are all the components of the car.
Without them, I wouldn’t achieve what I’ve achieved today and my whole career, really. I talk to them on a daily basis and they keep me hungry. They keep me accountable and I couldn’t appreciate their support anymore.
Japan’s Keita Nakajima heads those standings after tying for 11th, with Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra in second and Marco Penge joining them in Major-land next month.
For the man from Essex, victory on his 47th Tour start isn’t just a milestone—it’s the opening chapter of what promises to be a compelling story on golf’s biggest stages.
