Showman Marco Penge conjures up magical moment at The Belfry in British Masters
Englishman eagles iconic tenth hole at Ryder Cup venue to lead by two shots in weather-hit event
It was a moment of magic that lit up two drab days at The Belfry, where the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo hasn’t yet reached the halfway stage after a series of suspensions due to thunderstorms in the Midlands.
Delighting fans who, in truth, have had little to cheer about so far in the DP World Tour’s Back 9 Swing event due to Mother Nature being a bit of a bitch, Marco Penge played the role of ‘showman’ that was once filled by the great Seve Ballesteros.
To the side of the tee on the iconic tenth hole, there’s a plaque to commemorate Seve becoming the first player to drive the green during the Hennessey Cup back in 1978 and, boy, would the swashbuckling Spaniard have been proud of the way Penge emulated the feat.
Playing the opening hole in his second round after already playing 18 holes in the morning following weather delays on Thursday stopping him from getting started in the $3.5 million event, Penge smacked a driver to 11 feet and rolled in the putt for an eagle.
“I did something similar last year with a 2-iron and when I came back here on Monday and stood on the teeI was like ‘there is barely a target down there - how have I done that?’” he admitted later in an on-course interview with Cat Downes for Sky Sports Golf.
“Then I tried it this morning and just missed it right and thought I’d give it a crack again this afternoon. The support has been great. Everyone has hung around after a delay and I thought ‘they’ve not hung about to see a 9-iron here, so why not?’”
Asked where he ranked the shot in his career, the 28-year-old added with a smile: “Yeah, in terms of execution it was ten out of ten. Obviously, I hit quite a lot of good ones last year at times in more pressure situations coming down the stretch etc. But, yeah, that was a shot I’ll probably be watching back 30 or 40 times this evening in bed. I kind of watched it back 20 times already in the storm delay. So, yeah, it was cool.”
Penge, who narrowly missed out on the last European Ryder Cup team, looks determined to get off to the best possible start in the year-long qualifying battle to be on Luke Donald’s side for next year’s centenary edition at Adare Manor in Ireland.
Play halted for day at 7.50pm
Having signed for a four-under 68 in that opening round, he then covered 14 holes in the second circuit in eight under before play was halted for the day at 7.50pm. Sitting on 11 under, he’s two shots ahead of his nearest challenger, 2023 winner Daniel Hillier of New Zealand.
Penge, who won three times on the DP World Tour last season, has had health issues this year, meaning he’s not been at his best on the PGA Tour, where he sits 112th on the points list and faces a battle to hang on to his card for the US circuit later in the year.
The former Scottish Stroke-Play champion - he claimed that title at Lossiemouth in 2015 - is brilliant to watch when he’s in full flow. Though he dropped a shot soon after that eagle, he then reeled off seven birdies in ten holes. Make no mistake, he’s a genuine contender to be a rookie in County Limerick as Donald bids to create history by becoming a first three-time winning captain in golf’s best team event by far.
Through the same number of holes as Penge in the second round, Hillier is six under and bogey-free as he bids to become the first player since Greg Norman back in 1982 to successfully defend one of the great titles on the DP World Tour. He finished with a flourish three years ago, but is right up there already on this occasion.
As are Englishman Matthew Jordan, who has finished second in both the Danish Golf Championship at the Nexo Championship in Scotland over the past two weekends, and South African Shaun Norris, who led after 54 holes at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire in the latter before never really recovering from a two-shot penalty for inadvertently improving his stance on the fairway by flicking a divot away with his foot.
When play restarts at 7.30am on Saturday, they’ll trail Penge by four shots, with Ewen Ferguson one further back, having opened with a 67 that contained six birdies before then covering his opening 11 holes in round two in one under.
However, with lots of rain forecast for Saturday - the odd thunderstorm, too - before something similar on Sunday, it looks as though getting 54 holes completed is a more likely scenario if a Monday finish is off the agenda and this particular one is a Bank Holiday one in England.
Though no-one’s fault, of course, it’s been a right old guddle so far, with the likes of Nexo champion Scott Jamieson and Daniel Young having had two early rises so far then being primed to head out again around 6.45pm on Friday before that plan was shelved due to the latest delay.
Cameron Adam, meanwhile, had been due to get his event underway in one of the last groups on Thursday at 2.45pm then head out again at 9.30am on Friday. Instead, he didn’t get started until 10am on Friday and will restart on Saturday with 12 holes to play in his second circuit.
Sitting on two over, he’s battling to make the cut along with the likes of Calum Hill, though the top Scot in this season’s Race to Dubai had got it back to level par after 11 holes in the second round after signing for an opening 75.
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