SA golf sensation Aldrich Potgieter makes history in the USA

Promising South African golfer Aldrich Potgieter has become the youngest winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in the United States after winning the 2024 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old, who won the (British) Amateur Championship at the age of 17 in 2022, won on a score of 10-under-par, two shots better than the joint runners-up, Quade Cummins and Kyle Westmoreland.

Potgieter only turned professional a few months ago.

His win comes just a few days after Alabama student Nick Dunlap, 20, won the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament last Sunday. Because of Dunlap’s amateur status, the runner-up, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, took home the first prize, in rand terms, R28-million.

Potgieter won $180,000 (about R3.4-million) for his victory in the Bahamas.

According to the PGA Tour website, at 19 years, 4 months, 11 days of age, Potgieter has passed Jason Day as the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history, as Day previously won the 2007 Legend Financial Group Classic at 19 years, 7 months, 26 days of age.

Potgieter is also the youngest winner on either the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR since Ralph Guldahl’s victory at the 1931 Santa Monica Open at the age of 19 years, 2 months, 3 days.

Additionally, Potgieter is the fourth teenager to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, joining Day, Sungjae Im and Akshay Bhatia.

‘Happy for opportunity’

“I was just trying to make the cut… improve on the status. I didn’t expect this today,” Potgieter told the PGA Tour website.

“I was looking at the leaderboard a couple times and just trying to move up, move up slowly and give myself some chances on the putting green. I felt really comfortable, gave myself those opportunities and holed some of them.

“We saw Nick Dunlap win last week, and that was a reminder that it can be done,” Potgieter said. “I’m just happy to be playing here and to get the opportunity to play here. To make history, that’s just another bonus on top of the win.”

Potgieter began the final round at three-under-par and five strokes behind 54-hole leader Westmoreland, but a final round 65 helped get the job done.

• The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level.