Penge wins after “masterclass” in Denmark; Purcell finishes well
Marco Penge staged a stunning final day fightback to win his second DP World Tour title at the Danish Golf Championship.
The Englishman, who won the Hainan Classic in April, overturned a four-stroke deficit with 12 holes to play.
He started the day at Furesø Golf Klub one stroke behind 54-hole leader and home favourite Rasmus Højgaard but found himself four strokes back after six holes as the Dane made a hot start with an eagle and two birdies.
However, Højgaard then found trouble as he dropped three shots before the turn, and Penge remained in striking distance after he played the front nine in two under, with the pair sharing the lead on 14 under par after completing the ninth hole.
Another dropped shot from Højgaard on the tenth saw Penge move to the top of the leaderboard for the first time on the day, and the 27-year-old never relinquished his position.
After a birdie on the 17th hole, Penge stood on the 18th tee with a two-stroke lead but Højgaard eagled the last to sign for a 15 under par total, with Penge facing a four-foot birdie putt for the victory.
But the 2023 HotelPlanner Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings winner held his nerve and rolled in his putt for a 16 under par total, joining Scottie Scheffler as the second player to win more than once on the 2025 Race to Dubai.
Conor Purcell closed with a superb three-under 68 to finish tied for 34th on one under par, moving up three places to 139th in the Race to Dubai standings.
Ben Schmidt finished third on 12 under par, with Italian Gregorio De Leo and Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg sharing fourth on 11 under.
Player Quotes
Marco Penge: “All day I felt absolutely fine. I had butterflies this morning at the hotel, but I’ve learned so much over the last year in my personal life, my work environment. Keeping my card in Korea, winning in China, overcoming the break I had. The adversity I had to deal with there.
“I’m a dad now. I’ve really matured as a person and learned so much. That all leads to be me being able to deal with today and going up against Rasmus isn’t easy for anyone in front of his home crowd. Really proud of myself in that sense.
“He came out of the blocks flying and I felt like I played really solid at the start. All of a sudden I was four behind. I didn’t think much of it, to be honest. I just focused on my own game.
“The back nine is tough and I didn’t feel the need to start attacking. Just thought I’d see how I was after 12 holes and at that point I was leading by one.
“I didn’t have to change my game plan at all today. I felt like strategically, me and my caddie did such a good job. Making sure we missed it in the right spots, attacked when we felt like we could attack. It was, in my opinion, a masterclass.”
Danish Golf Championship, Furesø Golf Klub, Copenhagen, Denmark (Par 71)
268 1. M Penge (ENG) 64 68 69 67
269 2. R Hojgaard (DEN) 66 64 70 69
272 3. B Schmidt (ENG) 69 71 64 68
273 T4. M Lindberg (SWE) 69 68 68 68, G De Leo (ITA) 68 69 68 68
275 T6. E Smylie (AUS) 68 71 68 68, K Reitan (NOR) 74 66 67 68
276 T8. O Lindell (FIN) 69 70 69 68, S Valimaki (FIN) 72 69 67 68, J Veerman (USA) 69 70 66 71
277 11. M Ege (NOR) 67 71 68 71
278 T12. B Akesson (SWE) 69 71 71 67, J Scrivener (AUS) 70 67 70 71
279 T14. N Lemke (SWE) 68 70 70 71, L Bjerregaard (DEN) 67 72 67 73
280 T16. T Olesen (DEN) 70 68 73 69, A Sullivan (ENG) 68 72 71 69, F Molinari (ITA) 66 75 70 69, E Chacarra (ESP) 69 71 70 70, F Lacroix (FRA) 69 71 70 70, R Neergaard-Petersen (DEN) 69 72 68 71, C Wood (ENG) 70 69 68 73, N Norgaard (DEN) 69 67 69 75
281 T24. N Colsaerts (BEL) 70 71 71 69, A Saddier (FRA) 70 66 74 71, J Guerrier (FRA) 70 69 71 71, W Ding (CHN) 70 69 70 72, A Garcia-Heredia (ESP) 67 70 71 73
282 T29. S Jamieson (SCO) 70 71 75 66, R Sterne (RSA) 69 71 73 69, J Svensson (SWE) 69 72 72 69, R Cabrera Bello (ESP) 69 71 71 71, A Cockerill (CAN) 66 69 75 72
283 T34. Conor Purcell (IRL) 70 69 76 68, V Ahlawat (IND) 73 68 70 72, N Højgaard (DEN) 68 71 70 74, J Ko (FRA) 73 67 69 74
284 T38. R Williams (RSA) 73 68 73 70, N Von Dellingshausen (GER) 70 70 73 71
285 T40. M Kieffer (GER) 70 70 76 69, J Paul (GER) 66 73 73 73, J Gøth-Rasmussen (DEN) 72 69 71 73, J Luiten (NED) 73 68 71 73, J Winther (DEN) 71 68 72 74, G Green (MAS) 69 69 72 75
286 46. J Andersen (DEN) 67 70 76 73
287 T47. J Senior (ENG) 67 71 79 70, M Schneider (GER) 72 69 75 71, R Johnston (USA) 70 71 73 73, M Southgate (ENG) 72 69 72 74, T Aiken (RSA) 69 72 72 74, C Shinkwin (ENG) 73 67 71 76
288 T53. D Young (SCO) 68 73 77 70, B Wu (USA) 74 67 72 75, M Steinlechner (AUT) 67 69 76 76
289 T56. M Kim (KOR) 72 69 78 70, M Warren (SCO) 66 74 76 73
290 T58. G Wiebe (USA) 67 74 78 71, A Knappe (GER) 70 71 76 73, S Garcia (ESP) 72 66 73 79
292 T61. M Baldwin (ENG) 72 69 79 72, M Rottluff (GER) 67 72 78 75, F Kennedy (ENG) 70 70 75 77
293 T64. Z Lombard (RSA) 70 71 79 73, M Wallace (ENG) 71 70 71 81
297 66. F Schott (GER) 71 69 76 81.
