It took some extra laps, but ultimately youth prevailed at the 2025 Rocket Classic, and 20-year-old South African Aldrich Potgieter emerged with his first PGA TOUR victory, becoming the youngest winner on the PGA TOUR this year.
The tournament needed a three-man playoff to decide who would emerge with the win at Detroit Golf Club. At the end of 18 holes on Sunday, Aldrich Potgieter ($7,000; 143 FPTS) Chris Kirk ($7,500; 131 FPTS) and Max Greyserman ($9,100; 127 FPTS) ended up in a three-way tie at -22. Greyserman and Kirk finished regulation at -5 for the day, while the overnight leader, Potgieter finished -3 for the day.
On the first playoff hole, all three players drove into the middle of the fairway. Kirk was the closest of the three to the pin as he hit it to within 10 feet, but he couldn’t convert to get the win as all three players made par. The trio then moved to the par-3 hole No. 15. After Kirk found the green but was over 50 feet away and Potgieter missed the green entirely, Greyserman hit it in close but failed to convert his birdie chance while Potgieter scrambled to save par. Kirk three-putted for a bogey and was eliminated, leaving just Potgieter and Greyserman.
The duo each made pars and birdies on the third and fourth playoff holes, before Potgieter nailed this 17-foot putt for birdie on the fifth playoff hole.
Potgieter led the PGA TOUR in driving distance coming into the week, and I highlighted him in my top fantasy golf targets and pivot picks for this week. He set the record on the Korn Ferry Tour last year for the youngest winner and became the second-youngest graduate, earning his PGA TOUR membership just 23 days after he turned 20. Potgieter missed the cut in nine of his 13 events this season but this was his third top-10 finish. He lost in a playoff earlier this year at the Mexico Open, but ultimately, he came out on top on Sunday.
This was the third playoff in the seven-year history of the event, which reportedly will move to later in the calendar next season.
Just behind the three-way tie at the top, Jake Knapp ($7,300; 119 FPTS) and Michael Thorbjornsen ($7,200; 127 FPTS) tied for fourth. Nico Echavarria ($7,200; 122 FPTS) and Jackson Suber ($6,400; 119.5 FPTS) were one stroke further back in a tie for sixth followed by a five-way tie for eighth that included Kevin Roy ($7,000; 104 FPTS), Matt Fitzpatrick ($8,400; 110.5 FPTS), Collin Morikawa ($10,900; 117.5 FPTS), Thriston Lawrence ($6,900; 110.5 FPTS) and Andrew Putnam ($7,100; 105.5 FPTS).
In the PGA TOUR $800K SUMMER SAND TRAP [$200K TO 1ST] on DraftKings, the entry that finished on top of the leaderboard came from RFHBulldogsDad17, who had all three players from the playoff. Potgieter was owned in under 4% of lineups, making him the ultimate leverage play in his victory.
