Aldrich Potgieter details his month-long non-golf break before winning Rocket Classic 2025

Aldrich Potgieter won the Rocket Classic 2025 on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club. The 20-year-old South African beat Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk in a playoff to clinch his maiden PGA Tour victory. It is pertinent to note that this was the rookie’s first start in over a month.

Potgieter birdied the fifth playoff hole to join the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Rory McIlroy, Joaquin Niemann, and Tom Kim as the only PGA Tour stars to win before age 21. However, the golfer has now come out to reveal that he wasn’t fully prepared for the event he won. The former Korn Ferry Tour winner, who last teed up at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May, said he took the break to visit his family.

He admitted using the time to "refresh" and "come back with new equipment" without "overthinking too much" about golf. The Pretoria native also added that he "could have done a little bit more work" during his time off the golf course.

Speaking about his month-long break, Aldrich Potgieter said in his post-win presser, as quoted by Tee Scripts:

“It's definitely nice to go home and see the family. I haven't been home since February, since Mexico, and before that week I had three weeks off as well. So, it was nice to get the refresh, come back with new equipment, not overthinking too much stuff. I think I did a really good job of not coming in expecting too much because so much has changed. It's nice…

I thought I didn't hit enough balls at home, I could have done a little bit more work, but it's nice to kind of see some results coming from the club fitting and having some time off to breathe a bit.”

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Aldrich Potgieter’s PGA Tour season so far

For the unversed, Aldrich Potgieter, who previously won the British Amateur title at the age of 17, won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January 2024 to become the youngest Korn Ferry Tour winner. He became the second-youngest player to earn a PGA Tour card through the minor league at 20, following Jason Day (19). However, he hadn’t had the best of starts in the circuit until his Rocket Classic win on Sunday.

Potgieter started 2025 with a missed cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and followed it up with another crash out at The American Express. He managed a T15 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, before surprising many with a runner-up finish at the Mexico Open. He failed to maintain the form and went on to miss seven cuts in the nine starts that followed.

However, he managed a dramatic T6 finish at Charles Schwab before taking a month off from the golf field. He has now returned to win the Rocket Classic, securing his biggest ever paycheck of $1,728,000.

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Listed below is the complete breakdown of Aldrich Potgieter’s 2025 PGA Tour season (with earnings):

• Sony Open in Hawaii – Missed Cut
• The American Express – Missed Cut
• Farmers Insurance Open – T15 – $132,732
• Mexico Open at VidantaWorld – 2 – $763,000
• Arnold Palmer Invitational – Missed Cut
• THE PLAYERS Championship – Missed Cut
• Valspar Championship – Missed Cut
• Texas Children’s Houston Open – Missed Cut
• Valero Texas Open – T47 – $26,809
• Corales Puntacana Championship – Missed Cut
• THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson – Missed Cut
• ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic – Missed Cut
• Charles Schwab Challenge – T6 – $299,725
• Rocket Classic – 1 – $1,728,000

It is pertinent to note that Aldrich Potgieter’s win on Sunday also yields him exemptions into the 2026 editions of The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters, and the PGA Championship. The 20-year-old also has his PGA Tour membership in the winners category, extending till 2027.