In just his 20th start on the PGA Tour, 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter found his way into the winner's circle at the 2025 Rocket Classic, battling through 77 holes, including a five-hole playoff, for the victory. The youngest South African to win on the circuit fended off a crowded leaderboard at Detroit Golf Club to snag his first trophy in the big leagues.
Potgieter, the 18- and 54-hole leader, finished regulation in a three-way tie at 22 under before he made birdie on the fifth playoff hole to defeat playing partner Max Greyserman, 30, and Chris Kirk, 40.
A former Amateur champion and a one-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, Potgieter's victory marks another crowning achievement in his young career. He is now the seventh-youngest player to ever win a PGA Tour event and the fifth international player under age 21 to win on Tour, joining Tom Kim, Joaquin Niemann, Rory McIlroy and Seve Ballesteros.
The win is not without its rewards as the powerful right hander's career has been supercharged by the trophy raise. He has secured full-time status on the PGA Tour for the next two seasons, jumped to No. 36 in the FedEx Cup standings and locked up invitations for next year's Masters and PGA Championship. Should he wish, Potgieter can begin his 2026 campaign in Maui at The Sentry, and should he finish the 2025 season inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings, he will qualify for all eight signature events as well.
Holding a second 54-hole lead of his rookie season, Potgieter found himself in an up-and-down affair early. Starting his final round birdie-bogey-par, the overnight leader was the only player on the first page of the leaderboard to go over par for the round when he made bogey on the par-4 6th.
Only then did Potgieter settle down. Runs were materialized by early starters such as Nico Echavarria and Matt Fitzpatrick, but it was those near Potgieter to start the day that posed as his biggest challengers. Up ahead, Kirk made his move in the middle portion of his round with five birdies in his first 10 holes to command the solo lead.
Potgieter played catch-up with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7-8 and fully caught up with two more on Nos. 13-14. A bogey came calling, and so did Greyserman, who caught some wind with birdies on Nos. 16-17 to pull even with his playing partner. Pars from all three players on the par-4 18th made a playoff official as Greyserman's birdie effort from 12 feet to win in regulation never sniffed the hole.
Birdies continued to be dodged by Potgieter as Kirk missed from 9 feet on the first playoff hole, eliminating himself. Greyserman missed from just outside 10 feet on the next to keep the competition going. Potgieter made a few pars and kept chugging along before a birdie finally landed from 17 feet, 10 inches on the fifth playoff hole (par-3 15th). Grade: A+
Here are grades from other notable names on the leaderboard at the 2025 Rocket Classic.
T2. Max Greyserman, Chris Kirk (-22): Kirk, a six-time PGA Tour winner, had plenty of chances to notch lucky No. 7, but it was not meant to be. He entered the final round two strokes off the pace and quickly made his presence known as he occupied the top spot on the leaderboard for much of the afternoon. He faced 16 feet in regulation and 9 feet in the playoff on the 18th green to win the tournament but saw both birdie efforts fall by the wayside. A 3-putt bogey was ultimately his downfall on the second playoff hole, but the result marks Kirk's second straight quality outing and moves him inside the top 100 of the FedEx Cup standings. "Obviously just really disappointed right now, but felt like I played great today," Kirk said. "I'm happy with the way I played. It's a shame that first playoff hole, hit just three perfect shots and misread that putt a little bit. That's the way it goes sometimes unfortunately." Grade: A
Greyserman went even deeper than Kirk taking Potgieter to the fifth playoff hole, but that similarly came because of makable missed putts that he left on the course. Greyserman went bogey-free across the final 31 holes he completed from the back nine of the third round through the fourth hole of the playoff. Ten years Potgieter's senior, Sunday was the closest he has ever come to winning a PGA Tour event. Grade: A
T8. Matt Fitzpatrick (-19): What could have been for Fitzpatrick this week if he had just found a cooperative putter. The Englishman was sensational from tee to green but unable to fill it up on the greens and found himself on the fringes of contention for most of the tournament. The result continues a subtle but strong stretch of play from the former U.S. Open champion ever since the start of May. After beginning his season with zero top 20s across the first four months, Fitzpatrick now has three in his last five tournaments just as links golf portion of the calendar comes into view. Grade: A-
T8. Collin Morikawa (-19): It started with a little skirmish in the media room and ended with his best finish since The Players Championship. Morikawa "putted like a blind man" on Thursday with a trio of three-putt bogeys, so he made a call to the bullpen Friday morning for a new wand. The two-time major champion began to find his groove, but the initial deficit was ultimately too much to overcome. Morikawa got within a handful of the lead at multiple points in the final round, but not even his new putter could hide inefficiencies in his stroke as both of his final-round bogeys came via short misses. Grade: B+
T13. Hideki Matsuyama (-18): The caddie carousel saw Matsuyama's name jump on the ride this week as the man from Japan's usual bag man was back in the native country attending to some business. It looked like early that it would affect Matsuyama -- especially on the greens -- but he hung tough and let his ball striking do the talking for most of his tournament. He looked like the man who was going to post the early clubhouse lead during the beginning stages of the final round, but unfortunately, some sloppy play in the middle portion of the back nine put him too far off the pace. The result marks Matsuyama's best since his win the first week of the year in Kapalua. Grade: B
T41. Keegan Bradley (-12): It was always going to be a lot to ask Bradley to follow up the fireworks from his Travelers Championship victory. Arriving on property a little later than he would usually, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain eased into his tournament and just barely squeaked into the weekend after making the cut on the number. After playing his first 36 holes in 6 under, he played his final 36 holes in 6 under highlighted by a final-round 67 -- his lowest effort of the week. Grade: C-
This thing will never end! Greyserman and Potgieter both make birdies on the par 5 and now return to the par-3 15th where Potgieter has gone long not once but twice! Let's see if he adjusts.
We are onto the fourth playoff hole as both players make par on the third playoff hole. We are onto the par-5 14th which should provide some excitement and should provide a good chance for us to finally find a winner!
Chris Kirk needs three putts on No. 15 and he is eliminated after making bogey. Aldrich Potgieter and Max Greyserman march onto the par-4 16th.
Chris Kirk misses another birdie chance on the 18th green as he is unable to connect from inside 10 feet to win. He settles for par as does Aldrich Potgieter and Max Greyserman. The three men now head to the par-3 15th that Potgieter bogeyed in regulation.
This tournament had playoff written all over it all day. Max Greyserman misses a 12-foot birdie bid on No. 18 to secure his first PGA Tour win, and instead three men will head back to the 18th tee for some bonus golf — Greyserman, Aldrich Potgieter and Chris Kirk. Potgieter lost in Mexico via playoff earlier this season.
It looked like Potgieter was going to seize this tournament, but he follows up a birdie with a bogey on No. 15 and has opened the door for Chris Kirk who is now the solo leader. The smoothing swinging right hander gets up and down on No. 17 for birdie to reach 22 under and one clear of Potgieter and Michael Thorbjornsen.
The overnight leader is once again at the top of the leaderboard. Aldrich Potgieter nips a little wedge to 6 feet on No. 13 and knocks it in to get to 21 under alongside Chris Kirk. The two lead over Max Greyserman by a single stroke with the final group still with two par 5s in front of them.
It is a final round 66 for the man from Colombia, but he probably needed to shave a few strokes off that to have a chance. Nico Echavarria gets in at 20 under for the tournament, but he finds himself one stroke behind Chris Kirk who still has five holes left including a couple of par 5s. I like 22 or 23 under to win this.
The lead has been pushed out to 21 under and while it looked like Max Greyserman was going to be the one to, it was Chris Kirk instead. He is the most experienced man on this leaderboard and is one clear of Greyserman who missed a 3 foot birdie bid on No. 8 and Potgieter who got a circle on his scorecard on the same hole.
That's not a great two-hole stretch for the overnight leader. The 20-year-old misses from 6 feet for birdie on No. 4 and then drops a shot on the par-3 5th — his second bogey of the round. Potgieter is over par and now two behind Michael Thorbjornsen who has reached 20 under.
Aldrich Potgieter has gone birdie, bogey, par in his first three holes and stands at 19 under. He has been joined by Chris Kirk and Michael Thorbjornsen who is making his first start since withdrawing from the first round of the Charles Schwab. Thorbjornsen has Collin Morikawa's old caddie — JJ Jakovac — on the bag as a nice added wrinkle.
The man from Japan appears keen on posting an early number. He has gotten within one stroke of the lead at 18 under after a stellar birdie there on the long par-3 11th. He is 5 under on his round and will likely need to get somewhere around 22 or 23 under to make the leader think about his presence.
The world No. 5 will go as far as his putter takes him. On No. 1, it takes him into red figures on the round as he rolls in a beauty from just outside 10 feet to get within three strokes of the lead. Morikawa's ball striking will give him ample scoring chances today, and the newly introduced wand (put in the bag on Friday) will tell the tale of his winning potential.
This is the type of start chasers will require to put pressure on the leader. Chris Gotterup is now 3 under through his first four holes and is within three strokes of the leader. The only hole on the front nine that is playing at par-or-higher is the par-4 6th which means it is out there early and often for these guys.
Aldrich Potgieter had a chance to push his lead out even further last evening, but he went to bed at 19 under and two clear of the field. I think those at 14 under still have a chance at this tournament — Ben Griffin and Matt Fitzpatrick specifically — but they will need a course-record type of day. If Potgieter shoots 4 under that would mean they have to shoot something in the neighborhood of 63 to be within reach down the stretch. That's more the doable given the lack of defenses in Detroit.
