Penge, 26, was found to have placed bets on multiple golf events by an Independent Disciplinary Panel. This, the DP World Tour said, is in direct breach of Regulation 3(a)(i) of the Integrity Programme.

The Tour said Penge did not bet on himself or the progress of tournaments during days when he was participating. As such, the Panel ruled that the integrity of such events had not been compromised.

However, as this was still a breach of Tour rules and regulations on betting, it warranted a sanction. As such, Penge has been issued a three-month suspension from golf, with one month suspended for 12 months pending further breaches.

The suspension came into effect on 13 December, meaning Penge cannot compete again until 13 February 2025. In addition, he has been ordered to pay a £2,000 (€2,408/$2,499) fine.

“The Panel found that Penge’s immediate admission of breach and co-operation throughout the investigation warranted mitigation reflected in the eventual sanction imposed”, the Tour said.

Penge turned professional in 2017 and so far has three professional wins to his name. These include the Open de Portugal and Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2023.

Golf betting on the rise

Interest in betting on golf has increased during recent years with operators expanding their offerings for customers.

In October, DraftKings completed the acquisition of Dijon Systems, a subsidiary of Mustard Systems that owns and operates Mustard Golf, a specialist golf pricing business.

DraftKings said this allows it to bring golf pricing capabilities in-house and improve its live golf content. Mustard Golf is a B2B supplier of golf betting models and pricing within the online sports betting market.

Mustard Golf’s trading team will bring its live betting expertise to DraftKings. This includes its advanced data models, enabling DraftKings to introduce new bet types and open additional betting markets.