Having won three times on tour this year, made it into the world’s top 30, secured a debut appearance at The Masters, as well as outdriving Rory McIlroy by 20 yards, Marco Penge might be forgiven for thinking he has made it.
If the 27-year-old Englishman didn’t already do a decent line in humility, then being introduced to a crowd alongside McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton should do the trick.
By virtue of burning up the courses of the DP World Tour this season, Penge got to play in the premier three-ball for the opening rounds at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week.
Seeing as he was in the middle of the top three in the Race to Dubai, he was sandwiched neatly between two of the stars of world golf: McIlroy and Hatton.
“At the first tee, they’re calling out all the accomplishments and mine have been pretty good, but it made me look terrible standing on the tee with those two,” Penge said.
“It was a bit of a reality check in terms of the guys I am playing with. My heart rate went up, and I had a lot of adrenaline, but after the first hole, I settled down really well.
“It always makes it easier when you feel confident with your game. And I think I planned how I was going to feel to perfection in a way.”
Penge said ahead of Abu Dhabi that he had spoken to his psychologist about what faced him while playing for the first time alongside one of the all-time greats, in the form of McIlroy.
They both agreed that the adrenaline kick of such a moment is something he would thrive on. And so it proved. Penge birdied the first hole of the tournament, then eagled the second.
On his way to doing the latter, he belted his tee shot 377 yards. McIlroy, with a new driver in his bag, was some way back down the fairway, having sent his ball a mere 355 yards.
It was the sort of “flex” that Penge had been looking forward to ahead of the tournament. McIlroy was full of praise for his young playing partner at the end of their first trip round any course together, terming him “a flusher” with a “very, very solid game”.
Which is the sort of praise that might even persuade Penge to believe McIlroy does not think he is a “nobody”.
“It’s everyone else’s opinion who hits it further,” Penge said of the driving competition between the two leaders of the Race to Dubai.
“Rory would probably think he hits it further than me and I’d probably think I hit it further, but at the end of the day it doesn’t actually matter. It has to be on the fairway at the same time.
“We’re both good drivers of the ball and I think we respect and appreciate each other with how good we are with the driver because it’s not easy. There is a lot of work that goes on in the gym, et cetera.
“[But] I don’t really know. I mean, he probably doesn't care because I’m kind of a nobody to him.”
Having never played with McIlroy at all before Abu Dhabi, he guaranteed a second Thursday tee-time with him in a row.
Penge finished in a tie for ninth at Yas, after a spectacular final day on which he carded a 9-under par 63. He made eagles at successive holes at the start of his back nine.
At the 386-yard 10th, he had to putt the ball back 23 feet, as his drive had gone past the hole. At the 14th, his tee shot finished pin-high, which equated to 364 yards.
Although his 20-under-par total did not help bridge the gap at the top of the Race to Dubai to McIlroy, who finished tied-third, it did consolidate his hold on second place in the standings.
As such, he will be reunited with him in the last match out at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday.
Which means he will have more chances to pick McIlroy's brains. Penge has never played The Masters before. He will do next season, having clinched his place by winning the Spanish Open on his previous start before Abu Dhabi.
He has only played in the United States three times at all. Next season, by dint of finishing in the top 10 of the Race to Dubai, he will be entitled to play there far more often.
With a young son, and his wife Sophie expecting their second child, there is plenty to consider in terms of the logistics of travelling frequently to the US with a young family.
Penge might be minded to ask the likes of McIlroy and Shane Lowry for some tips on the subject, but will have to get his timing right.
“He’s trying to beat me as much as he’s trying to beat anyone else,” Penge said of the on-course communication he has had with McIlroy so far.
“For the first six or seven holes [on Thursday in Abu Dhabi] it was a little bit like head-to-head in a way, and after that things relaxed a little bit.
“I was just asking him about Augusta and the schedule for next year. I just tried to get a little bit of advice from him, and we had a little chat about each other’s games and how we do certain things.
“It was nice to play with someone who I feel my game is very similar to in a way. He’s a better iron player than me, but I feel every other part of my game is pretty close. I feel like I have got a lot of confidence from playing with him.”
