English pro suspended for betting on golf wins in China to earn spot in PGA Championship

Marco Penge has come a long way in just a few short months.

In late December, the DP World Tour announced that the 26-year-old Englishman had violated the tour’s integrity program and was given a three-month suspension. The violation? Well, Penge had placed wagers on several golf events back in 2022. Even though it was discovered that he did not bet on or against himself—and he wasn't aware that he had done anything wrong—he was in breach of the rules.

On Sunday in China, at the Hainan Classic at Mission Hill Resort on Hainan Island, Penge birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch late in the final round to shoot 67 and top Kristoffer Reitan and Sean Crocker by three shots.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he said.

It was Penge’s 47th start on the DP World Tour and it pushed him up and into third place on the tour’s Asian Swing standings, which gives him an exemption into the PGA Championship next month at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. He qualified for the British Open just last month from playing well at the South African Open.

“This obviously means the world to me,” said Penge, who won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2023. “It’s something that I’ve always dreamt of achieving—winning on the biggest stage.”

"After my time off [gambling suspension] it was the thing that I wanted to really prove to myself and prove to everyone, to show what a player I am.”

Penge opened with 68-71 and was not near contention. But a third-round 65—that included five birdies, two eagles and a double bogey—vaulted him into a tie for the lead with Bowen Xiao. On Sunday, he was one over after the first five holes but made three birdies on the never four holes and seven over the next nine to jump out front and hole on down the stretch.

Reitan shot 67, Crocker shot 67 and Xiao stumbled to a 73. Keita Nakajima and former LIV golfer, Eugenia Chacarra, finish in the first two spots in the Asian Swing to also earn spots in the PGA Championship.