VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 21, 2026

Marco Penge

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Quick Quotes

Q. Five birdies in a 3-under 68. How would you describe that round?

MARCO PENGE: A grind. Front nine I didn't have it at all and made a couple of mistakes. I had to work really hard mentally today, myself talk in terms of trying to get through the day. Because I didn't feel very comfortable with my swing. So, yeah, I was relying on certain parts of my game to carry me through and it was nice to actually see some good swings coming down the stretch there. So, yeah, I'm happy.

Q. You didn't feel very comfortable with your swing, but did you feel comfortable with that pairing today?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, for sure. Matt's a great guy, he's someone I've known since I was kind of 13 years old, someone I've looked up to ever since. He's the ultimate person and professional. Yeah, I couldn't ask for a better pairing than playing with him, he's awesome.

Q. You mentioned now that your entire family is here with you for the first time in awhile after having a newborn recently. How comfortable has that made you feel this week?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, it's been great. I've obviously, you know, my wife was pregnant for the last couple of months and she hasn't been able to travel with me, so I've been spending a lot of time away from my family and it's great to have them all here this week. It's the first week of the year that they have come. So, yeah, it's nice to see my son out there on the golf course on the back nine every day and feels like it's switched me off a little bit from being so hard on myself. So, yeah, it's cool.

Q. What do you think of this golf course? You played it three rounds now, what's your opinion?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, it's cool. It's definitely grown on me a lot. I think it's actually quite similar to some golf courses back in Europe. I feel like it's very similar to a golf course I won at when I played the Spanish Open and especially now with it baking up, it's definitely tricky in places. If you're slightly off your game, it will find you out.

Q. A couple of Englishmen have won this event, do you feel like an Englishman still now that you're living in Florida or will it be a home state victory perhaps if you get up on top there?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, yeah, of course, I'm still a proud British man. But it's my second home here in Florida and, yeah, it's cool to be a Floridian, as they would say, and nice to play in front of these crowds.

Q. What was the highlight of the day for you today?

MARCO PENGE: The way I played them last five holes. Some of the iron shots I hit at 15, 16 and 18 there. Three of the best swings I've put on this whole week. So it's nice to see some iron shots going down the flag. I hit plenty of poor ones over the last few months, so, yeah, it's nice to see some good progress there at times.

Q. How excited are you for tomorrow?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, looking forward to it. My first experience being in contention on Sunday on the PGA TOUR. It's just a golf tournament at the end of the day for me, but yeah, it would be a cool experience and learning curve and hopefully can I play some decent golf.

Q. What were your expectations like playing on the PGA TOUR, and do you think some of those have been met or different than what you expected?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I think with the season I had last year, obviously I think there was high expectations on me from the outside world. For myself, I feel like I'm still got so much to learn and quite far away from where I want to be or where I feel like I could be. But it's just taking time to adapt over here. It's slightly different golf to what it is in Europe. The courses are set up slightly harder and playing with better players every week. So, yeah, my expectations are pretty low, to be fair.

Q. What parts of your game are further away than you would like them to be?

MARCO PENGE: Well, my iron play, my short game is nowhere good enough, really. I showed some really good glimpse of it coming down the stretch there. Some three great iron shots. But some of the iron shots on the front nine and yesterday are still just a little bit destructive. So if I can just make my bad shots a little better and keep the rest as it is, then I'll be very happy. But, you know, I feel the way I drive the ball and the way I putt it is, them areas of the game are definitely good enough, it's just the rest.