The Rocket Classic produced another epic playoff Sunday evening. A 20-year-old South African came out victorious after a 5-hole playoff.
Aldrich Potgieter came into the day with a 2-shot lead and outduelled Chris Kirk and Max Greyserman in the playoff to capture his first win on the PGA Tour. The Detroit Golf Club has consistently produced great golf in late June, and today was just another example of that.
Potgieter, who has just 20 starts on the Tour, holed a 17+ foot putt on the 5th playoff hole to come out on top. The young stud has just made himself exempt on the PGA Tour through 2027, and just received an invite to next year’s Masters Tournament.
Potgieter capped off a fantastic week with a huge win. The long hitter tied the course record on Thursday, with a 62. Then, they proceeded to battle off a packed leaderboard on Sunday to win $1.7 million.
Potgieter is just making a name for himself early in his career. He leads the PGA Tour in driving distance this season with an average of 326.6 yards. That is just about 26 yards longer than the tour average.
The favorite heading into the week, Collin Morikawa, finished the tournament tied for eighth as he shot a 68 on Sunday to boost himself up the leaderboard.
The Rocket Classic will be rescheduled for next season, taking place from July 30th to August 2nd. Potgieter should return to defend his title next season, just two weeks after the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
