Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa reacts to a putt on the 17th green during the third round of The Genesis Invitational 2026 at Riviera Country Club on February 21, 2026 in Pacific Palisades, California. Picture: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images/AFP
Image: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images/AFP
When you’ve risen to such great heights in such a short period of time, it’s difficult to pinpoint areas where you can improve, but that’s exactly what South Africa’s US PGA Tour member, Aldrich Potgieter, did.
At 21, Potgieter is already a winner on the PGA Tour and routinely tops the driving distance charts.
That first win came at the age of 20 in June last year when Potgieter triumphed in a marathon five-hole playoff to win the Rocket Classic.
Having finished in a credible 52nd position on the FedEx Cup last season, Potgieter spent his break from competition back home in South Africa, where he decided he needed to work on his physical fitness more.
“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,” said Potgieter, as quoted by GolfMonthly after he finished fifth at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday.
“So yeah, a lot of change, and I think we picked up a few things that changed with my posture and how I'm setting up to the ball. I 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.”
Whether life on tour led to a weight gain, Potgieter did not explain specifically, but he did reveal that he needed to get out of some bad habits.
“I think going home for three, two months, I got into 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 into 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 was good.”