Aldrich Potgieter has yet to turn 21, but he’s quickly demonstrating his staying power in professional golf.

Potgieter, 20, finished runner-up at last week’s Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in just his fourth start as a PGA TOUR member. The prodigious South African led into Sunday before falling to Brian Campbell, who birdied the second playoff hole to earn his first TOUR title at age 31. If not for Campbell’s fortuitous break on that hole, where his tee shot sailed into the right tree line before catching bark and bounding back into play, Potgieter would’ve likely woken up Monday as a PGA TOUR winner. (Potgieter missed a 6-foot birdie try that would have extended the playoff.)

It's OK, though, as Potgieter’s powerful game and even-keeled demeanor beyond his years portray a young pro who should factor for years to come.

“Pressure's a big thing,” Potgieter said Sunday evening. “You can't really beat it, you just have to learn and adjust to it next time you're in this position again. I'm really happy with how I played this week and trying to do that the following week I guess. If you told me I would get second place before the week started, I would definitely have taken it. … Hopefully my time will come soon.”

With his runner-up at the Mexico Open, Potgieter moved from No. 111 to No. 29 on the FedExCup standings – he’s the youngest TOUR rookie in 2025, yet the highest-ranked into the Florida Swing (32 rookies in total). Potgieter leads the Aon Swing 5 (comprised across the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and this week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches), and even though he won’t compete at PGA National, he’s in good position to earn a spot at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard via the Aon Swing 5.

Potgieter arrived on TOUR with ample buzz as one of golf’s longest hitters, and he has done little to dispel that notion. He leads the PGA TOUR in driving distance (326.9 yards, two-tenths of a yard ahead of Rory McIlroy), a skill that proved useful last week at Vidanta Vallarta, a course that offers ample room to rip driver. It also served him well at Torrey Pines, site of the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, where he stood solo third into Sunday and ultimately finished T15. Next week’s venue, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, is another brawny ballpark that he should find to his liking.

Potgieter also contended late into the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge last fall, carding a final-round 75 to finish runner-up by a stroke. He’s close to a breakthrough title and he knows it. Potgieter ranks No. 140 on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, but clutch chip shots on the final two holes of regulation at the Mexico Open – getting up-and-down from rough just left of the 17th green, and then from a greenside bunker on No. 18 – suggest he’s moving in the right direction. He has also been working with fellow South African Ernie Els on weakening his grip on chip shots, revealed Brad Faxon on NBC’s final-round broadcast of the Mexico Open. If he improves this area of the game, the wins could come in short order.

As it is, Potgieter’s game has already forced his peers to take notice.

“He’s playing a different course than we are,” said Campbell the night before outdueling Potgieter in the Mexico Open playoff. “It’s been honestly fun to watch. I know him from last year (on the Korn Ferry Tour), so it’s just been fun. … He has me by a few yards when I was 20, but he's got a good game, he's got a good game he's working with. It's exciting to see.”

Potgieter broke onto the Korn Ferry Tour scene with a flourish in 2024, winning the season’s second event, The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, to become the youngest winner of a TOUR-sanctioned event since Ralph Guldahl at the 1931 Santa Monica Open. He fought through some uneven results midway through the season but ultimately finished at No. 29 on the season-long standings, with the top 30 earning PGA TOUR membership, becoming the second youngest player after Jason Day to earn a TOUR card via the Korn Ferry Tour.

Don’t confuse youth, though, with the need for a significant learning curve. Potgieter is ready to ascend.

Here's a look at the next highest ranked rookies into the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. The top 100 on the FedExCup Fall standings, finalized after The RSM Classic in November, will earn fully exempt PGA TOUR membership for 2026.

• Isaiah Salinda (No. 48 on FedExCup): The Stanford alum contended down the stretch at last week’s Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, closing in 6-under 65 at Vidanta Vallarta (matching Sunday’s low round) to finish in third place at 19-under, one stroke shy of the Campbell-Potgieter playoff. Salinda was understandably disappointed after coming so close, but the result did wonders for his position on the FedExCup; he vaulted from No. 148 to No. 48 on the season-long standings, a 100-spot improvement.
• Rasmus Højgaard (No. 78 on FedExCup): After earning his first TOUR card via the 2024 DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking, the Denmark native has quickly acclimated himself to the circuit with three top-34 finishes in four starts, highlighted by a T12 at the WM Phoenix Open. Højgaard holds TOUR membership alongside his twin brother Nicolai, who currently stands No. 83 on the FedExCup – a closely contested race thus far.
• Jackson Suber (No. 88): The Ole Miss alum thrived in his TOUR debut as a member, finishing T6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii on the strength of a final-round 65 at Waialae Country Club. Suber, who is mentored by former TOUR pro Jonathan Randolph, added a T56 at the Farmers Insurance Open but has missed a cut in his other two starts.
• Will Chandler (No. 90): After earning his first TOUR card via PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, carding a final-nine 31 at Final Stage to earn his card on the number, Chandler finished T6 at the WM Phoenix Open as a Monday qualifier to bolster his position on the FedExCup into the Florida Swing. Not only did the Georgia alum close in 5-under 66 at a raucous WM Phoenix Open, but he clipped final-round playing partner Scottie Scheffler by six strokes that Sunday. That’s his only made cut in four starts thus far, but it’s a significant one.

Click here to see how all 32 PGA TOUR rookies have fared in 2025 thus far.