Marco Penge wins his first Challenge Tour event

Mizuno’s Marco Penge has won the Open de Portugal at Royal Obidos – his first Challenge Tour event.

Penge who started the final day one stroke behind, carded a two-under-par final round 70 to go with rounds of 65, 68 and 69, to reach 16 under for the week. Finishing four shots clear of the field.  The win helped Penge to climb 42 places to 19th in the Road to Mallorca rankings with four events remaining. With the top 20 after the season-ending Grand Final securing promotion to the DP World Tour,

Penge has long been touted as a player to watch – with a stand out amateur career and highly impressive clubhead speeds.  Penge is part of Mizuno’s ‘Next Generation’ – a project started to find and develop its next Major winner.  Penge is expected to impress once reaching the DP Tour – after overcoming serious knee injuries and rebuilding his career alongside Mizuno.

Penge and his Mizuno ST-Z driver impressed in Portugal.

The Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi long iron is also a fixture in Marco’s bag.

Marco came to Mizuno back in 2022 off the back of knee surgery.  Marco’s misfortune became Mizuno’s good luck – he needed an equipment company to back him, but be patient as he rebuilt his game.  We knew Marco’s level of talent made that wait more than worthwhile and wanted to be that partner.  We knew it was just a matter of time with Marco – the higher up the game he travels, the more success he’s going to have.  This win couldn’t have come at a better time – we’d love to see him as a regular on the DP World Tour.  Once he starts playing regularly on those long tournament courses, we’re going to see something really special.

Alex Thorne / Mizuno

Marco Penge’s staff bag on the Mizuno workshop.

Close up of Penge’s bag with Mizuno Pro 221 irons, Fli-Hi, ST-Z driver and ST fairway wood.