Aldrich Potgieter got up and down for par on Sunday on the last hole of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to make sure he stayed inside the top 30 of the tour’s rankings and earn himself a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season.
Potgieter’s closing three-under-par 69 lifted him into a share of 40th on three-over-par for the tournament, and that was enough to leave him in 29th place on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List after he began the week in 27th.
Braden Thornberry birdied the 72nd hole for a final-round bogey-free 6-under 66 and a one-stroke victory at the season-ending event. Thornberry, who entered the week at 51 on the points list, was the only player outside the top 30 who moved into the final top 30. Thornberry’s victory bumped Sam Bennett out of the top 30, as Bennett began the week at 30.
At 20 years and 23 days of age, Potgieter is the second-youngest graduate in Korn Ferry Tour history, only trailing Jason Day, who was 19 years, 11 months, and 23 days upon graduating in 2007.
He also usurped Day as the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history with his victory at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, as he won the title at 19 years, 4 months, and 11 days. The victory also made him the fourth teenager with a Korn Ferry Tour victory, joining PGA Tour winners Akshay Bhatia (2022 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic), Sungjae Im (2018 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic), and Day (2007 Legends Financial Group Classic).
He was a featured cast member of ‘One Shot Away’, the Korn Ferry Tour’s season-long, six-episode documentary series available on YouTube. He won the 2022 Amateur Championship roughly three months before his 18th birthday, which made him the second-youngest winner in the history of the event. He eschewed college and turned professional in the summer of 2023. He enjoys fishing while away from the golf course.
