Marco Penge is excited to compare his game to Rory McIlroy's when he plays alongside the Masters Champion for the first time at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Having retained his card in the final counting event of the regular season in South Korea last year, Penge has since enjoyed a stellar 2025 campaign, becoming the first three-time winner this season with victories at the Hainan Classic, Danish Golf Championship and last month's Open de España presented by Madrid.
With two events of the DP World Tour season remaining, Penge sits second on the Race to Dubai Rankings, one spot behind World Number Two McIlroy.
He will spend the first two rounds at Yas Links in the company of McIlroy and the Northern Irishman's fellow Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton, and Penge is excited to play with someone he has long looked up to as he bids to reduce the gap at the top of the standings.
"For me, he (McIlroy) is the best player in my generation of kind of watching golf," said Penge. "He's been so successful, and I think a lot of guys in my age group really look up to him not just as a golfer but as a person.
"Yeah, I compare a lot of parts of my game to him. I am excited to see what I think my strengths are compared to him on Thursday and see where I can improve.
"I know on Thursday morning when I step on the tee I'm going to have some adrenaline because I'm playing with one of the best players in the world for the first time. I don't think I'm going to be too nervous.
"It's purely the adrenaline, similar to how I felt in the play-off at the Open de España. I've got a lot of things in place to prepare for that.
"Fully aware of it already in my head that's how I'm going to feel. But I clarified with my psychologist that I tend to play my best golf when I feel like that.
"It's nothing to be scared of. I just want to enjoy the moment and enjoy the experience, being in this position and playing with the top players of the world."
With Penge 441 points behind leader McIlroy in the season-long race, he goes into the final two Rolex Series events of 2025 with a chance of overhauling him and capping what has been an outstanding season by winning the Harry Vardon Trophy.
He added: "I think I played the Irish Open and I thought, 'now my goal is to catch Rory'.
"That goal was kind of over in a way, but now that I've won in Spain and got back in the mix, I'm trying to win this week or next week or just play as good as I can and see where that ends up."
