Marco Penge at a tournament earlier this year.
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British professional Marco Penge, 26, has been suspended by the DP World Tour for betting on a golf tournament.
In a statement on Wednesday, the PGA Tour did not reveal which events Penge bet on, but did report that he neither placed bets on himself nor on the progression of events in which he played, leading to a disciplinary panel It was ruled that “the integrity of such events was not compromised.”
Penger was suspended for two months as a result. The penalty took effect on December 13 and will expire on February 13.
Pursuant to Section 3(a)(i) of the Tour Integrity Program, DP World Tour members are prohibited from gambling at tournaments. The provisions read as follows: “No Relevant Person shall directly or indirectly place bets, or instruct any other person to place bets, on the outcome, progression, conduct or any other aspect of any professional or elite amateur golf event anywhere in the world.
The PGA Tour added in a statement, “Penger immediately acknowledged the violation and cooperated throughout the investigation, which resulted in the mitigation of the final sanctions.”
Penger is the 414th ranked player in the world. After winning the Challenge Tour in 2023, he was promoted to the DP World Tour. Penge’s most recent start was at the Australian Open late last month, where he finished 27th.
This is not the first time a professional golfer has been suspended for betting on golf. In 2023, the PGA Tour suspended Korn Ferry Tour players Vince India and Jake Staino for gambling on PGA Tour events and violating the PGA Tour’s Integrity Program Six months and three months.
In 2023, the PGA Tour enhanced its betting monitoring capabilities by partnering with regulator US Integrity. The PGA Tour said in a statement at the time, “USA Integrity will provide supplemental integrity monitoring services through its proprietary dashboard, which will proactively identify irregular tournament ratings, officiating and betting patterns through analysis of many data sets.
While both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour have strict betting policies for players, both tours have also struck deals with betting platforms designed to increase fan engagement. In 2023, the DP Tour appointed OlyBet as its official betting operator. In 2019, the PGA Tour signed a multi-year agreement with DraftKings to become the Tour’s official daily fantasy gaming partner.
