Aldrich Potgieter during the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. (Photo: David Berding/AFP)
When South Africa’s 21-year-old Aldrich Potgieter led for most of the second round of this year’s US PGA golf tournament at the Aronimink Country Club in Pennsylvania on Friday, he turned back the clock on Gary Player.
Player won in 1962, the last time this tournament was played on the Aronomink course.
It was the 26-year-old Player’s third victory in a major tournament (he won nine in total) after winning the British Open in 1960 and the American Masters in 1961.
Player shot scores of 72, 67, 69 and 70 in the PGA’s four rounds and finished with 278, one stroke ahead of American Bob Goalby.
Jack Nicklaus was then joint third.
Aldrich Potgieter. (Photo: Aldrich Potgieter see Facebook page)
Potgieter was in the lead with 67 strokes on Thursday and finished with 137 strokes (-3) on Friday after scoring 70 strokes in the second round.
Potgieter made birdies on the 3rd and 9th holes to take the lead, but lost his lead after he conceded par on the 17th and 18th holes to finish with 70 shots.
The Americans Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley lead together with 136 shots (-4) and are followed by Potgieter and five other players on 137.
They are Max Greyserman and Chris Gotterup (both from America), Min-Woo Lee from Australia, Stephan Jaeger from Germany and Hideki Matsuyama from Japan.
The world’s leading player in the golf rankings, Scottie Scheffler (America), is ninth along with six other players on 138 strokes (-2), with Rory McIIroy of Northern Ireland joint 30th on 141 strokes.
McIIroy, who shot 74 in the first round, was on a roll with 67 on Friday.
South Africa’s Casey Jarvis is firmly placed on 142 shots (+2), with Christiaan Bezuidenhout (144, +4) also qualifying for the last two rounds.
South Africa’s Garrick Higgo, who was penalized two strokes in the first round for starting late at first base, finished with a +5 and therefore could not make the cutoff (+4).
What an expensive lesson it is to learn!
But Bryson de Chambeau (+6) also couldn’t escape the fall.
The difficult course, pin placements and fierce wind took their toll, as five of the world’s top 13 players in the ranking could not make it either.
They are no. 6, Tommy Fleetwood (England), no. 8, JJ Spaun (America), no. 9, Russell Henley (America), and no. 13, Sepp Straka from Austria.
Other top players who also failed to make it are Akshay Bhatia (+5), Wyndham Clark (+5), Viktor Hovland (+6), Adam Scott (+8), Michael Thorbjornsen (+11) and Max Homa (+12).