Aldrich Potgieter won the Rocket Classic on Sunday night. He is South African, 20 years old and his career is clearly on the rise, although he still lacks some consistency. He has already been in the fight to win elite tournaments and his name is already part of the short list of players who have won on the PGA Tour before the age of 21 and who are not American: Seve Ballesteros, Rory McIlroy, Joaquin Niemann, Tom Kim and now also Aldrich Potgieter.
The young talent required 77 holes to win in Detroit. He competed in a playoff with Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk, going to the fifth hole with the former. The South African holed from five meters to claim his first big league victory. The youngest golfer on the entire tour won. In fact, Potgieter was the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history; he was also a successful amateur – he won the British, among other important tournaments – and is also currently the number 1 in driving distance on the PGA (he reached 316 km/h with the driver in his hands).
Youngest winners on the PGA Tour
- Charles Kocsis (1931) – Michigan Open: 18 years, 6 months, 9 days
- Harry Cooper (1923) – Galveston Open Championship: 19 years, 4 days
- Ralph Guldahl (1931) – Santa Monica Open: 19 years, 2 months, 3 days
- John McDermott (1911) – U.S. Open: 19 years, 10 months, 14 days
This season he had five wins, going into Sunday with chances, ranked in the top five. He could not certify victories and the fourth round became his wall. This time he started the day two strokes ahead and the day went on longer than he would have liked. The South African even admitted that it was good for him to lose the lead on the seventh hole: “There was a switch that flicked when I lost the lead. I felt like I could chase something. I had to get out of the feelings I had on those first few holes and get into that chase mode that allowed me to play different golf,” he confessed.
Youngest winners on the PGA Tour since 1983
- Jordan Spieth (2013) – John Deere Classic: 19 years, 11 months, 17 days
- Nick Dunlap (a) (2024) – American Express: 20 years, 29 days
- Tom Kim (2022) – Wyndham Championship: 20 years, 1 month, 17 days
- Matthew Wolff (2019) – 3M Open: 20 years, 2 months, 23 days
- Tom Kim (2022) – Shriners Children’s Open: 20 years, 3 months, 18 days
- Nick Dunlap (2024) – Barracuda Championship: 20 years, 6 months, 28 days
- Phil Mickelson (a) (1991) – Northern Telecom Open: 20 years, 6 months, 28 days
- Tiger Woods (1996) – Shriners Children’s Open: 20 years, 9 months, 6 days
- Aldrich Potgieter (2025) – Rocket Classic: 20 years, 9 months, 16 days
- Tiger Woods (1996) – Oldsmobile Classic: 20 years, 9 months, 20 days
Potgieter became the youngest South African to win on the PGA Tour, an honor held by Garrick Higgo, but more importantly, talent, determination and success finally came together to take another step up the ladder. He has just moved up to 49th in the world rankings at the age of 20.
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