ALDRICH POTGIETER THE NEXT BIG THING Aldrich Potgieter come agonisingly close to winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday. Picture: Mike Mulholland /Getty Images via AFP
Image: Mike Mulholland /Getty Images via AFP
For many South African golf fans, watching Aldrich Potgieter come agonisingly close to winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday, would have been their first up-close glimpse of the young professional.
Potgieter held a three-shot lead after 10 holes in the final round, but a triple bogey six at the par three erased that advantage. Two more bogeys in his final three holes saw the 20-year-old miss out on forcing a playoff by one shot. American Johannes Veerman triumphed on five-under.
It was a deflating end to the tournament for Potgieter, after he had also begun the final round three ahead.
It was also Potgieter’s debut appearance in the NGC, and playing in front of such vocal support was something new for him.
"Playing in front of a home crowd, I have never played a round like this in front of a big crowd before and it’s been huge. I’ve been in this position a few times with a few people watching, but to be at home, it is very good,” said Potgieter.
After round three, Potgieter added that it would be a ‘dream come true’ if he won the event.
Potgieter’s been successful at every level of golf he’s played, and that was best demonstrated in early October as he became the second youngest player to earn a US PGA Tour card, via the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) moneylist.
The 20-year-old Potgieter finished 29th on the KFT moneylist, with the top-30 earning playing privileges for next season on the PGA Tour. The KFT is the secondary golf tour in the USA.
The powerfully-built Potgieter led the driving distance on the KFT this season, with his average driving distance standing at a staggering 336.5 yards (307.69m).
Having turned 20 in September, Potgieter already made headlines on the KFT when he became the youngest winner in the tour’s history at 19 years, four months and 11 days when he won the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.
Though he was born in Mossel Bay, like fellow SA golfer Louis Oosthuizen, he moved to Perth at a young age.
There he won the South Australian Junior Masters in 2020, before following that up with the Western Australian Amateur the next year. In 2022, he returned to SA to clean up at the SA Junior International, SA Boys Under-19 Championship and the Western Province Amateur titles.
Potgieter’s crowning glory came at the 2022 Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes which saw him earn exemption into The Open Championship later that year and the 2023 Masters.
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