HUSQVARNA BRITISH MASTERS HOSTED BY SIR NICK FALDO

August 26, 2026

Marco Penge

The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Your first thoughts on being back on European soil?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, obviously missed this tour. Going to the PGA TOUR has been a great experience and a great place for me to improve, but you know, there's nothing like being back on the DP World Tour, and after the success I had last year, it's nice to be seeing familiar faces and catching up with lots of different people.

THE MODERATOR: Tied sixth place finish here last year. How much will you feed off the home crowd?

MARCO PENGE: Last year when I played here, I was on a bit of a wave. I think I had just won Denmark the week before. So yeah, I feel like it's a bit of a different kind of -- different step into this week compared to last year.

Last year, I was probably playing a lot and playing great, and health was good. Game is good. Whereas this year, kind of been spending a lot of time at home the last few weeks and being a dad and seeing friends. Still a little bit not on the back foot but trying to have more balance in life the last couple of months.

Yeah, I believe my game is in pretty good shape and it's always nice to play in front of a home crowd. I had that at The Open and Scott rebound open as well. Yeah, there's nothing better than playing in front of a British crowd.

THE MODERATOR: How much have you learned playing on the PGA TOUR this season?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I've learned a lot. A lot to adapt to. I've had a lot of change in my life the last year, I suppose. I think for a young guy, it's a lot to take on at once and find the outlook with myself and how I was feeling. I was just focusing on my golf and kind of lost that balance of life a little bit.

So it's nice to kind of be in a good frame of mind again. Trying to have that sort of balance in my life rather than golf being the main focus, it's kind of the least important part of my life, really, but it's something that I love to do. I love competing, but I also love being a dad and a husband and a good friend, so, yeah.

Q. You touched on your health, a bit of a stop, start year. Can you tell us what the last few months have been like and what you've been up to?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I've been feeling better day-to-day. Still struggling physically with kind of the -- kind of like getting over it, you know what I mean. I'm kind of on the back end of it. But I still struggle, my ear problem has kind of gone into my neck and then goes into my shoulder and goes into my energy levels.

Yeah, that's why getting back to having a balance in life has been really important for me to try and re-energise. It's obviously great being a professional golfer and I love it, but the work that you have to put in and the sacrifices that you have to make, I think sometimes if you're not used to it and it's new to you, which for me it is in a way, it can really take over. It's important to have a supportive team and family around you. I feel like I've lent on them a lot the last six to eight months. I'm on the mend. It's taking time but it's more just waiting for myself to feel a hundred percent.

Q. Just from a schedule point of view, as well as in terms of the PGA TOUR, what will the next few months be like for you with cards and things like that?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I'm kind of in the worst position, really, with the Back Nine coming up, and if I had the choice, I'd much rather be playing the likes of this week, Crans, Irish Open, Wentworth, French Open, Spanish Open. This is the best time to be playing on The European Tour and the best events in golf at this moment in time if not throughout the whole season.

So unfortunately I'm having to prioritise keeping my playing rights in America. Obviously my goals is to play with the best players in the world and I feel like you get that on the PGA TOUR. I feel like it's a place that I can improve the fastest as a golfer, as well and as a person, so yeah, I mean, I need to, I haven't earned the right to be taking weeks off in America and coming back to play here.

It's kind of been in the back of my mind the whole year, like come on, come on, I want to get the job done as quick as I can so I can come back. But the health stuff has gotten in the way there and a few barriers.

Unfortunately I won't be playing after next week in Europe, unless I go and win early on in America -- so that's the plan.

Q. Having come close to being in the last Ryder Cup, you're on a lot of people's lists to be a contender for next year. Can you talk about what a bigger goal that is personally and the possibility of being on that Ryder Cup Team?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I obviously got a little bit of -- I got a little bit of what it's like last year, one of the men that was kind of chasing to make a push late into the team and I kind of feel like I did as well as I possibly could, but maybe experience was against me, which I totally understand why I wasn't. And obviously Luke made the correct decision with the way the team performed.

Yeah, playing in a Ryder Cup, especially as a European, you can see that kind of family role together, it's the pinnacle of European golf. I'd love to get on the Ryder Cup Team. I believe qualifying starts, this week, next week, and then going back to America and getting points over there -- yeah, it's all a bit up in the air for me.

I feel like I'm a better player than I was last year already. I'm playing so much in America, and I can tell when I come back to tournaments here and courses here that I can compare how I feel then to now, and I feel like I've come on a lot as a player. I just haven't quite proved that yet.

But yeah, there's loads of time to actually qualify, and good golf will do the talking at the end of the day, and that's what I've got to get back to.

Yeah, it's exciting to have something in the distance to push for.

Q. Given the atmosphere in New York, and the Irish will be a frenzy there but there but that might be a better one to make a debut?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, definitely, when I didn't get selected, I said to my team, I probably wasn't ready for it, anyways; and with the New York crowd and not playing much in America in front of the crowds there because they are very different to here. Yeah, probably could have come too soon. It was the right thing to happen. I think it's the best thing that happened for my career in general.

Yeah, it will be much nicer playing in Ireland in front of an Irish crowd than over there.

Q. Just with the health issues, how difficult has that made, it first of all, with the move over to America, but then practicing as well and your swing in general?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, it's just been -- the whole season has been a bit of a nightmare, really. As soon as I got that virus at the Dubai finals and battled through that and went down to Australia and played in South Africa and was continuing to chase my tail in a way and to keep pushing and pushing, it just got too much for me: I had three weeks off in December, and the three weeks off, I was ill; and then the move to America; and my wife was pregnant. New clubs, new tour, new environment, becoming a dad of two, a lot of stuff at once, especially for a 27-year-old.

So, yeah, like I said, just got way too much for me personally from a mental and physical standpoint. It's a lesson I've learned in my career. It's kind of inevitable that that will happen at some point to anyone. It's been a bit of a nightmare, really.

Q. Difficult to not get overwhelmed by all those different things happening at once?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I kind of like -- mentally, as an elite athlete and as a person, I was like, yeah, I can deal with it, I can deal with it. And without knowing, it caught up with me. And when you're kind of walking up to a tournament and feeling dizzy and you get off a plane feeling ill, yeah, isn't good. Like I said, a lot at one time.

But I've grown as a person and a player, and that's taught me a lot of lessons, yeah, playing every week, even though I've wanted, it's not the right thing.

Q. Is it difficult when you're out there -- I know you took a break after the PGA Championship. Is it difficult to stop?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I should have never started the season, really. I think I withdrew from Hawai'i due to my neck. I kept pulling my neck when I was practicing due to my ear. I was kind of on antibiotics for a month. Trying diet stuff. Trying to find a way through it and nothing was happening and continued playing. I started the season with four weeks on the trot and then I had two weeks off in the hospital with my son, giving birth and my wife giving birth. Then played seven on the trot.

Until walked away, I had not even realized what I achieved last year. I was just so in a tunnel vision and not make sure I wasn't being complacent, and yeah, forgot about everything else in my life in a way. I suppose probably lost a bit of happiness because of that.

Yeah, it was great to have six weeks off without touching a club and spending time with my family and being an actual dad for them. Then I come back and played some good stuff, which is good, and showed some positive signs.

Q. Paired with Tyrrell tomorrow, how much do you enjoy playing with him, and is he someone you would like to see playing back on the DP World Tour next year?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, a hundred percent. Tyrrell has been one of the best European golfers, English golfers for quite a long period of time. He's someone that I can learn a lot off in certain parts of the game.

Obviously try not to get dragged into the mental stuff of how he deals with things. I deal with things a little different to him. I'm sure it will be entertaining out there.

Yeah, he's always fun to play with. He's a great guy and he's obviously just become a dad, as well. So we've got a lot in common at this time in our lives. Yeah, it will be a lot of fun.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, you've played in the Faldo Series and Faldo Futures as a young player. How much influence did that series and Sir Nick have on you growing up?

MARCO PENGE: Yeah, I remember going to Lough Erne qualifying for maybe like a final of of the Faldo Series what I was maybe 12, I think I even got a photo of Rory McIlroy there, suited and booted. My mom picked out a pretty good suit to be fair.

Yeah, all these things are great stepping stones if your aspirations are to become a professional golfer and playing on the DP World Tour. Obviously Sir Nick is one of the greatest golfers in the world in European golf.

Yeah, anything that he has to say and anything that he creates, I suppose is going to be in a good way and I think what he's doing with the development side of golf is amazing. That's the most important thing, I think, for the game is to continue giving people opportunity, and they are where the great stories come from. The Faldo Series stuff is where it really start. Yeah, it's cool to see that's continuing to grow.