Two rounds of 68 ensured Aldrich Potgieter headed to the weekend at the Genesis Invitational in the hunt for his second PGA Tour title, facing a six-shot deficit on co-leaders Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman with 36 holes to play.
It’s the latest strong display in the South African’s early PGA Tour career, which began in 2025 after earning his card via the Korn Ferry Tour, and already includes victory at the Rocket Classic in his rookie season.
However, this year, Potgieter has cut a leaner figure than in his maiden season.
He opened up on his weight loss following his three-under second round at Riviera Country Club, although he admitted it may have set him back in the early weeks of the season, when he missed three cuts in a row before a T60 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
He said: “Yeah, it's tough coming from the offseason, it was kind of my first time being at home for two months and kind of sitting around and not doing too much.
“So yeah, a lot of change, and I think we picked up a little few things that changed with my posture and how I'm setting up to the ball. Lost some weight so I think that kind of played a bit of a factor. So when we figured that out, it was a little bit better.”
Despite taking longer than he would have liked to find his rhythm, Potgieter revealed that time at home had allowed him to address the issue of slowly gaining weight on the Tour.
He added: “I think going home for three, two months, I got in a nice system where I can kind of grind on some things that you can't really do when you're out here.
“And being on the Tour for three years now and kind of away from home is kind of like you get in some bad habits and it just builds up, builds up over time. So I think having some two months off to work on some things were good.”
While Potgieter may have taken a little time to adjust to his slimmer build, one area of his game that hasn’t been affected is his huge hitting, which saw him top the PGA Tour driving distance averages in 2025 and has him riding high in the table again this year.
Following the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Potgieter’s average driving distance stood at 327.1 yards, 2.1 yards further than his overall average in 2025.
Given Potgieter is now confident he has addressed the early-season issues caused by his weight loss, armed with his huge hitting distances, it suggests his already impressive PGA Tour career could be about to scale new heights.
