Marco Penge responds to LIV Golf rumours after Open De Espana victory

Marco Penge has insisted that he intends to take up PGA Tour membership next year amid rumours that he was considering a move to LIV Golf.

Penge has enjoyed a breakout season on the DP World Tour in 2025, winning his third title of the season at the Open de Espana on Sunday after beating Dan Brown at the first playoff hole.

The 27-year-old, who also won in China and Denmark earlier this year, is the closest challenger to six-time European No 1 Rory McIlroy in the current Race to Dubai rankings with just four events remaining.

Penge’s achievements have also locked up a PGA Tour card for 2026, but the big-hitting Englishman has been the subject of rumours that he was a target for LIV Golf.

But he appears to have quashed those suggestions after claiming he and his wife are about to board a plane to the United States to embark on some house hunting.

In an interview with Spanish media outlet Ten Golf following his victory in Madrid, Penge confirmed his plans to play on the PGA Tour from January to August before returning to Europe to resume playing on the DP World Tour.

“I’m going to America tomorrow with my wife to find a place for when we move in January,” said Penge, who missed out on automatic qualification for last month’s Ryder Cup despite being 2nd in the Race to Dubai.

“So, as far as I’m aware, I’m playing the PGA Tour next year and hopefully I’ll have a great season and finish in the playoffs there and then come back to the DP World Tour and play the rest of the season here.

”I love playing golf and I’d play every week if my team let me. So yeah, I want to be playing against the best players in the world and I want to be playing national opens like this.

“When you win a couple of national opens, that’s something that I’ll never forget and something that my family will never forget. So, that’s my plan.”

Penge's narrow victory in Madrid lifted him to a career-high 31st in the Official World Golf Ranking, comfortably achieving his 2025 target to break into the world's top 50.

And there were two further golden rewards in winning the Open de Espana, with Penge cementing his Masters debut next year as well as a place in the field for The Open at Royal Birkdale.

"It’s crazy," he said when reminded he would be teeing it up at Augusta National. "It’s a golf course that I’ve always wanted to play, because I feel like my game sets up really good for it.

"My goal was to get in the top 50 in the world by the end of the year. I think that made it a little easier playing the play-off, knowing that if I don’t win, I’m still going to be at the Masters. I tried to do a bit of reverse psychology there but no, I’m looking forward to it."