Marco Penge feels he "may have got in" if Ryder Cup was at home

Marco Penge feels he might have earned a pick from European captain Luke Donald if this year’s Ryder Cup had been on home soil.

The big-hitting Englishman played himself into contention during an outstanding season on the DP World Tour, with wins at the Hainan Classic and the Danish Golf Championship helping him to second place in the Race to Dubai.

But despite being the closest rival to Rory McIlroy to end the season as European No 1, Penge finished 14th in the Ryder Cup qualifying standings, with the majority of the players ahead of him playing the bulk of their golf on the PGA Tour.

Many pundits suggested that Penge’s power-packed game would have been a huge benefit at Bethpage Black, which had four par-4 holes playing over 500 yards when the PGA Championship was held there in 2019.

Donald ultimately opted to go with experience when he named his six captain’s picks on Monday, ensuring that 11 of his 12 victorious players would be in his team to defend the trophy.

Penge took the decision with good grace, admitting that throwing a rookie into a Ryder Cup in front of the notoriously-raucous New York fans would have been risky.

But he did hint that Donald may have gone in a different direction if this month’s showpiece was being held on European turf.

“I feel that if it was a home Ryder Cup, then I might have got in,” Penge told Sky Sports in a mid-round interview on day one of the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club.

“But I totally understand that is going to be really tough for the boys over there with the crowds and stuff. So I understand why Luke wanted to take all his experienced players, and there are no hard feelings there.”

Penge will now focus on qualifying for Team Europe at Adare Manor in 2027, and he believes that what he learned about this year’s process will stand him in good stead.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself, most importantly,” he said. “It was something that I wanted to achieve, and obviously it was a massive ask, but to get really close and perform under pressure proved a lot of things to myself.

“I know how well I played to get really close, so I’ve just got to keep getting better and better, and we’ll see where we are in 2027.”