Prodigious Aldrich Potgieter continues rapid ascent with PGA TOUR card

Heralded young prospects across all sports face a unique challenge. Hype, praise and expectations are thrust upon them as their talent level rises from their peers. The bar for success rises along with it, sometimes slipping out of reach.

For Aldrich Potgieter, 20, his golf future is once again firmly in his own hands.

The South African earned his PGA TOUR card Sunday, finishing No. 29 on the final Korn Ferry Tour Points List. The top 30 after the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance earned 2025 PGA TOUR membership.

Potgieter became the youngest winner in the history of the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour earlier this year with his victory at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club in January. At just 19 years, 4 months, 11 days, Potgieter carded a final-round 65 to win in just his second event as a Korn Ferry Tour member, surpassing Jason Day for the record as the Korn Ferry Tour's youngest winner.

The then-teenager from Mossel Bay, South Africa, became the youngest winner on either Tour since Ralph Guldahl at the 1931 Santa Monica Open (19 years, 2 months, 3 days).

Two weeks later, Potgieter shot a 59 in the second round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, becoming the youngest to break 60 in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event.

Despite his explosive introduction, Potgieter’s debut year on the Korn Ferry Tour wasn’t a crowning. It wasn’t until the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance that Potgieter confirmed his place amongst the 30 graduates, slipping in the door in 29thplace, just 20 points clear of No. 31 Sam Bennett.

While leading the Tour in driving distance at an average of 336.5 yards, Potgieter missed 13 cuts in 24 events. He used all of his nearly 6-foot, 211-pound frame to deliver power off the tee, but he struggled to keep the ball in play, ranking towards the back of the pack in accuracy off the tee and approach play.

However, when it mattered most, Potgieter showed mettle fitting of a PGA TOUR star.

Potgieter entered the final week at No. 27 on the season-long standings, stumbling out of the gates to begin his week at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Coming off a 77 in the third round, the 20-year-old found himself projected squarely on the bubble.

“One hole you're inside, the next you're outside,” Potgieter said of his position entering Sunday at French Lick’s Pete Dye Course. “You look at the leaderboard, think you’re somewhere and then you're not there anymore. It changes so much.”

Potgieter responded with a 69 on Sunday including a precarious up-and-down from a bunker on his final hole to give himself a chance. The math fell in his favor from there.

With his promotion to the TOUR, Potgieter now puts his name alongside Day’s a second time, becoming the second youngest graduate in Korn Ferry Tour history just behind the Aussie.

Most golf hopefuls at age 20 are just trying to solidify their place on a college roster, grinding out finishes at a conference championship and hoping to find a spot on the PGA TOUR University Ranking heading into their junior year. At the same age, Potgieter has now solidified his TOUR card, and he will grind out finishes at the game’s top level in hopes of improving his spot in the FedExCup standings.

Who knows, maybe Potgieter and Nick Dunlap, a fellow 20-year-old to recently receive their TOUR card, are destined to battle at the Presidents Cup for the next two decades? For the young South African, the stage couldn’t be any more set.

About Aldrich Potgieter

• Age: 20
• Hometown: Mossel Bay, South Africa
• Birthplace: Pretoria, South Africa
• PGA TOUR starts: 6
• Cuts made: 1

Notes: Won the 2022 Amateur Championship in Europe at age 17, becoming the second-youngest winner in the event’s history… Earned medalist honors at 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry’s Second Stage in Valdosta, Georgia, securing eight guaranteed starts in 2024 … Won the 2020 South Australian Junior Masters … Won the 2021 Western Australian Amateur … Attended the Louis Oosthuizen Junior Golf Academy in South Africa.