Marco Penge admitted he watched videos of Rory McIlroy's four rounds at last year's DP World Tour Championship as he prepares for battle with the World Number Two in Dubai.
Second-placed Penge is looking to overhaul the Northern Irishman in the Race to Dubai Rankings, needing to finish at least in a runner-up spot for a chance to top the standings. Find the permutations here.
Penge, who only earned his playing rights for this season with a birdie at the 36th hole of the Genesis Championship in South Korea last October, has won three times on the DP World Tour this year and he is looking to enjoy the occasion ahead of the final event of the 2025 campaign.
The Englishman waxed lyrical about McIlroy, who will be his playing partner for the first round on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday, describing him as the "greatest player" of his generation and revealed that while lying in bed due to sickness, he watched videos of his rival around the Dubai layout.
"Last week playing with Rory was a massive experience for me and to play as well as I did in front of him was something I was very proud of," Penge said, referring to his ninth-placed finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
"So I'm excited to go head to head with him again and watch Rory do his thing.
"I love it. I love playing in front of crowds, I love playing with the best players in the world. There's nothing better than playing with Rory McIlroy. He's the greatest player of my generation.
"He's someone I watched idolising as a young boy and even to this day I still idolise him, so he is someone I can learn so much off. I compare my game to his quite a lot so I'm looking forward to watching him play around here, see what I can learn and kind of follow him round I suppose.
"The guy has been so successful here so if I can follow him, I shouldn't be miles away.
"I was trying to learn. I want to learn off him. I was still focused on my own game, stuck to my own strategy, but there's so much to learn off him and to have five hours with him is priceless.
"I'm fortunate to have another five hours with him tomorrow, hopefully I can play as well as I did last week and we can put on a good show.
"I think the course is great, I think it suits my game pretty well. I'd liked to have a little bit more prep, but I was actually lying in bed watching Rory play all four rounds from last year on YouTube so I felt I had a pretty good idea before I got here today.
"I was seeing which holes he hits driver off et cetera and I'll get a good idea tomorrow when I watch him play as well."
Penge is seeking to become the first person since Tommy Fleetwood to win both the HotelPlanner Tour's Road to Mallorca (2011) and the Harry Vardon Trophy (2017).
Reflecting on his 2025 season, the 27-year-old added: "It's been awesome. This week is just a bonus. It's a week that I just want to enjoy with my family, my team and close ones because we deserve to be in this position with all the hard work that we've put in.
"So it's important, I said to my team that this week is all about enjoying the experience, enjoying the moment, taking everything in, playing with Rory in the first round and having the chance to win the Race to Dubai; these are moments that you don't know how long they could last.
"This year's been awesome and I wouldn't change a thing.
"My game has improved so much this year, I've gained so much experience with playing with the top players in the world.
"To have the chance to win the Race to Dubai is unbelievable really. Where I've come over the last nine months is still something that I almost still in disbelief in a way."
