{"id":171823,"date":"2025-11-14T07:49:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T07:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/rory-mcilroy-outplays-marco-penge-at-dp-world-tour-championship-as-michael-kim-leads-after-first-round-pga-tour\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T07:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T07:49:21","slug":"rory-mcilroy-outplays-marco-penge-at-dp-world-tour-championship-as-michael-kim-leads-after-first-round-pga-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/rory-mcilroy-outplays-marco-penge-at-dp-world-tour-championship-as-michael-kim-leads-after-first-round-pga-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy outplays Marco Penge at DP World Tour Championship as Michael Kim leads after first round &#8211; PGA Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Leaderboard<br \/>Schedule<br \/>Search<br \/>Menu<br \/>1<br \/>-6<br \/>1<br \/>T2<br \/>-5<br \/>T2<br \/>T2<br \/>-5<br \/>T2<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T8<br \/>-3<br \/>T8<br \/>T8<br \/>-3<br \/>T8<br \/>T8<br \/>-3<br \/>T8<br \/>T8<br \/>-3<br \/>T8<br \/>T8<br \/>-3<br \/>T8<br \/>T13<br \/>-2<br \/>T13<br \/>T13<br \/>-2<br \/>T13<br \/>T13<br \/>-2<br \/>T13<br \/>3 Min Read<br \/>Latest<br \/>Rory&#x27;s best escape shots of his career<br \/>A<br \/>Change Text Size<br \/><span>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 The head-to-head between Rory McIlroy and Marco Penge at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship has gotten off to an extremely one-sided start.<\/span><br \/><span>While McIlroy rolled in seven birdies in a 6-under 66, Penge \u2014 <\/span><\/p>\n<style data-emotion=\"css vqpqpw\">.css-vqpqpw{transition-property:var(--chakra-transition-property-common);transition-duration:var(--chakra-transition-duration-fast);transition-timing-function:var(--chakra-transition-easing-ease-out);cursor:pointer;outline:2px solid transparent;outline-offset:2px;color:#004c95;-webkit-text-decoration:underline!important;text-decoration:underline!important;-webkit-user-drag:none;}.css-vqpqpw:focus-visible,.css-vqpqpw[data-focus-visible]{box-shadow:var(--chakra-shadows-outline);}.css-vqpqpw:hover,.css-vqpqpw[data-hover]{color:#0084FF;}.css-vqpqpw:focus,.css-vqpqpw[data-focus]{border:1px solid #004c95;border-radius:0.4rem;}.css-vqpqpw:visited{color:#551A8B;}<\/style>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"chakra-link css-vqpqpw\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/article\/news\/latest\/2025\/11\/10\/as-last-change-looms-these-dp-world-tour-players-are-projected-to-earn-pga-tour-cards-for-2026\">the young pretender trying to overhaul the established superstar in the DP World Tour&#x27;s Race to Dubai standings<\/a><span> \u2014 struggled to a 74 in the first round on Thursday.<\/span><br \/><span>Penge&#x27;s birdie at No. 18 meant he avoided being tied for last in the 52-player field in the final event of the 2025 season, with the Englishman seeing close up just what it will take to get to McIlroy\u2019s level.<\/span><br \/><span>U.S. golfer Michael Kim shot a bogey-free 64 to lead by one stroke from Tommy Fleetwood, whose strong end-of-season form \u2014 after winning for the first time on the PGA TOUR and then starring in Europe&#x27;s Ryder Cup win at Bethpage \u2014 continued on the Earth Course with seven birdies and no bogeys in his 65.<\/span><br \/>Tommy Fleetwood closes out first TOUR win at East Lake, wins FedExCup<br \/><span>McIlroy was tied for third place with Andy Sullivan and Thriston Lawrence and looks set to be crowned Europe\u2019s No. 1 player for a fourth straight year and the seventh time in his career. That would leave him one off Colin Montgomerie&#x27;s record haul.<\/span><br \/><span>\u201cIt was a really solid start on a golf course that I\u2019m very comfortable on and historically I\u2019ve played very well on,\u201d said the No. 2-ranked McIlroy, who posted his 15th round of 66 or better at Jumeirah Golf Estates.<\/span><br \/><span>Penge, on the other hand, was playing his first competitive round there \u2014 and it showed with some of his shot selections.<\/span><br \/><span>He made five bogeys in a 10-hole run from No. 5, the last coming at the par-5 14th after duffing a chip from the middle of the fairway. At least he had that final-hole birdie to cling to, even if it left Penge eight shots behind McIlroy already.<\/span><br \/><span>Penge, who around this time last year was outside the top 400 in the world and had just secured his DP World Tour card, is still defying preseason expectations by being second in the Race to Dubai standings, around 767 points behind McIlroy.<\/span><br \/><span>To reel in McIlroy, Penge \u2014 a three-time winner on the Tour this year \u2014 needs to win and hope McIlroy finishes worse than second alone, or finish in a tie for second and for the Northern Irishman to be down the leaderboard.<\/span><br \/><span>None of those scenarios appears likely at this point, with McIlroy displaying all the weapons \u2014 namely a brilliant iron game and improved putting \u2014 that helped him to complete the career Grand Slam this year by winning the Masters.<\/span><br \/>Rory McIlroy&#x27;s road to the green jacket<br \/><span>He rolled in two 6-footers and then a putt from 18 feet for birdies at his first three holes and stayed strong as Penge, who had to deal with a bout of sickness early in the week to hinder his preparations, began to falter.<\/span><br \/><span>Three birdies in the first five holes of his back nine pushed McIlroy further clear of his playing partner. Even when he was errant off the tee \u2014 like, for example, at the 15th \u2014 he was able to scramble for par.<\/span><br \/><span>\u201cI felt like that was probably one of the best sort of approach-play rounds I\u2019ve had in a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cMy wedge play felt really sharp. Had a lot of good iron shots. I feel like I don\u2019t want to sound like I\u2019m that disappointed but I feel like I left a few out there.\u201d<\/span><br \/><span>Tyrrell Hatton, who is third in the Race to Dubai standings, needs to win to stand any chance of an unlikely title while also needing McIlroy to finish worse than a tie for eighth with one other player. Hatton opened with a 70 and was six shots off the pace.<\/span><br \/>View All News<br \/>Butterfield Bermuda Championship<br \/>1<br \/>-6<br \/>1<br \/>T2<br \/>-5<br \/>T2<br \/>T2<br \/>-5<br \/>T2<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>T4<br \/>-4<br \/>T4<br \/>View Leaderboard<br \/>Copyright \u00a9 2025 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved.<br \/>PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark, and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with permission.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMi7gFBVV95cUxQQXdSSi11U1pXcmQ1SVVxVm14SXRrMkk3YVh6YzQtWGNIamFXYlBzdWp2cnJLdlRYckg2WnJFa0RBR0ViVzV4MHFrbGJNWUx2UG1FbHMyRE1Rc1IzRUVWY2RfS2hKb191a2pqTllreXVmalFnYnQ0Z2k3bUF5UDhjWXJlY2k0V2h2NlN2OUwxTmIyUWR0VEd0SXRfaTFCbzVKakZVRDFPWVJaalpkenRNN0xTSUNROC1oTG5iUGlkRGJwTzFhZjVHSG5tYUNOOHRaSTZpZy1PN1VLTVowMG1xSV81cWIwM0ljSkp3Ti1B?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LeaderboardScheduleSearchMenu1-61T2-5T2T2-5T2T4-4T4T4-4T4T4-4T4T4-4T4T8-3T8T8-3T8T8-3T8T8-3T8T8-3T8T13-2T13T13-2T13T13-2T133 Min ReadLatestRory&#x27;s best escape shots of his careerAChange Text SizeDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 The head-to-head between Rory McIlroy and Marco Penge at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship has gotten off to an extremely one-sided start.While McIlroy rolled in seven birdies in a 6-under 66, Penge \u2014 the young pretender trying to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}