Aldrich Potgieter leads Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard after second-round 59

Things to Know

• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Aldrich Potgieter, winner of The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, carded an 11-under 59 to earn the outright lead after 36 holes
• At 19 years, 4 months and 27 days, Potgieter becomes the youngest player to record a sub-60 round in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event
• Potgieter made 10 birdies and one eagle against one bogey en route to his 11-under 59
• After a record-low 13-under 57 in the first round, 30-year-old Chilean Cristobal Del Solar carded a second-round 2-under 69 and sits one stroke behind the leader
  • This is the first time in Korn Ferry Tour history two players have recorded sub-60 rounds in the same week
• David Kocher and Russel Knox both recorded 59s at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho at the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron, but in different years (Knox in 2013 and Kocher in 2023)
• Colombian Ricardo Celia followed up his opening round 8-under 62 on the Pacos Course with a 5-under 66 on the Lagos Course to move into a tie for third at 13-under
  • Celia is the only Colombian to make the cut
• The 36-hole cut was made at 6-under with 65 players making it through to the weekend

Second-Round Lead Notes

Aldrich Potgieter (Leader / -16)

• Moves into the solo lead after 36 holes with a second round 11-under 59 at the Pacos Course, becoming the youngest player to break 60 in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event at 19 years, 4 months and 27 days
  • Carded a 5-under 66 in the first round on the Lagos Course
  • Made eight birdies (Nos. 3, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18) against three bogeys (Nos. 1, 13, 14)
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie who recorded his first professional victory earlier this season at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, becoming the youngest player to even win a Korn Ferry Tour event (19 years, 4 months, 11 days)
  • Previous youngest winner on the Tour was Jason Day (19 years, 7 months, 26 days)
  • Became the fourth teenager to win a Korn Ferry Tour event, joining Day, Sungjae Im and Akshay Bhatia
  • Posted a final round 7-under 65 to erase a five-stroke deficit and claim a two-stroke victory over Quade Cummins and Kyle Westmoreland
• Finished T27 at The Panama Championship last week
• Currently sits No. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List through the three events
• Has made five career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour; first start came last season at the Compliance Solutions Championship where he made the cut in his first start as a professional and finished T35
• Made four PGA TOUR starts as an amateur
  • The 2022 Open Championship, 2023 Masters Tournament, the Memorial Championship presented by Workday and the 2023 U.S. Open
• Made his first professional start on the PGA TOUR at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023 where he missed the cut
• Turned professional in 2023 following the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club where he made the cut and finished 64th
• Earned medalist honors at Second Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, guaranteeing starts in the first eight events of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
• Notably won the 2022 Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in England, defeating Sam Bairstow 3-and-2 to become the second-youngest champion at 17 years old
• Born in Pretoria, South Africa and plays from Mossel Bay, South Africa

Quotables

Aldrich Potgieter on his 11-under 59… “Yeah, I was hitting the driver really well. Obviously, the course is a little bit shorter so I was around a lot of greens. Yeah, I was putting it really nicely. The greens are awesome, just running really smooth. Yeah, just got it going at the start. That eagle helped on the third or fourth hole and just kept it going on the back nine. Felt a little bit of a struggle coming up, but kind of pushed and birdied the last three holes.”

Potgieter on his plan coming into the second round… “Yeah, I had to play well, I knew I had to play well to be able to shoot this low. It was just kind of the confidence to hit the ball, get it close, make putts. Not many mistakes, I think that was a big thing, trying to eliminate the mistakes and just try to keep the ball in play. There's not much danger on the short course, so just try to shoot under the 60s, try to get as low as I can, but definitely looking at that.”

Potgieter on if he knew what his score was during the round… “I kind of knew. I was kind of trying to get to that 57, so I was trying to push myself, but then kind of realized that we're still in a golf tournament, we're not playing a fun round out here, so I was kind of trying to concentrate when I made those last three birdies, which helped a lot.”

Potgieter on his early season success… “I set the goals and I have goals, so I'm kind of just trying to improve on the goals and set new ones. It's kind of like expecting to go in that direction. I feel like I'm good enough to be playing on this high level or even playing on the PGA TOUR in a couple of months and stuff. Really looking forward to getting into that top 30 and making sure that I get that card at the end of the year. Hopefully just getting a few more wins on the way there.”

Additional Player Notes

• 18-hole leader Cristobal Del Solar (2 / -15)followed up his historic 13-under 57 in the first round on the Pacos Course with a 2-under 69 on the Lagos Course to move to 15-under overall and solo second
• Ricardo Celia (T3 / -13) is the lone Colombian to make the cut after a second-round 5-under 66 on the Lagos Course
  • Celia posted an 8-under 62 in Thursday’s opening round on the Pacos Course
  • His previous best finish in this event came in 2019 when he finished T25
• Charles Porter (T3 / -13) sits three strokes back of the lead after a bogey-free 5-under 66
  • Porter holed 10 birdies against two bogeys in his opening round for a 8-under 62 on the Pacos Course
  • This is his fourth career start on the Korn Ferry Tour and second made cut; made the cut last week at the Panama Championship
• Henrik Norlander (T10 / -6) had the low round of the day on the Lagos Course with a 6-under 65, matching his first-round 65 on the Pacos Course
• After an opening round 1-over 72 on the Lagos Course, Mason Anderson (T52 / -6) posted a 7-under 63 on the Pacos Course to move up 74 spots from T125 to T52 and make the cut on the number
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Cooper Dossey (T12 / -10) recorded the lowest round of his career with an 8-under 62 on the Pacos Course to make his first cut of the season
  • Dossey began the tournament with a 2-under 69 on the Lagos Course
  • He earned status on the Korn Ferry Tour with a T14 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry; guaranteeing 12 starts to begin the year
• Étienne Papineau (T12 / -10) made an ace on No. 7 of the Lagos Course; the 27-year-old Canadian hit an 8-iron into the 180-yard par-3 for his first of two eagles on the day; his second coming on the par 5 18th after hitting it to three feet on the approach
  • Papineau posted a bogey-free 7-under 63 in the First Round on the Pacos Course
• Colombian amateur Daniel Faccini (MC / -3) missed the cut, but bounced back from a 2-over 73 in the first round on the Lagos Course with a bogey-free 5-under 65 on the Pacos Course
• There were 13 bogey-free rounds on the day between both courses; no players remain bogey-free for the tournament

Round Two Course Statistics - Lagos

• Scoring Average (Par 71): 69.631 [-1.369]
• Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 35): 35.486 [-0.514]
• Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 36): 34.145 [-0.855]
• Toughest Hole: No. 13, Par 4, 439 yards – 4.171 [+0.171]; No. 14, Par 4, 382 yards – 4.171 [+0.171]
• Easiest Hole: No. 8, Par 5, 555 yards – 4.513 [-0.487]

Round Two Course Statistics - Pacos

• Scoring Average (Par 70): 66.598 [-3.402]
• Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 35): 33.636 [-1.364]
• Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 35): 32.962 [-2.038]
• Toughest Hole: No. 2, Par 3, 191 yards – 3.325 [+0.325]
• Easiest Hole: No. 7, Par 5, 516 yards – 4.247 [-0.753]