The Rocket Classic has a new champion after its third playoff in seven years of the event.
Aldrich Potgieter defeated Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk in extra holes Sunday evening at Detroit Golf Club for his first win on the PGA Tour. It took more than an hour of playoff golf to decide the winner — five extra holes until Potgieter, a 20-year-old South African in his 20th start on Tour, poured in a 17-foot, 10-inch putt on the 158-yard par-3 15th to win at 22-under.
In celebration, Potgieter hugged his father and threw the winning ball into the crowd, a fact that he is sure will displease his grandmother.
“I give her all my stuff that I’ve won with, so she’s not going to be pretty happy,” Potgieter said.
Potgieter’s victory earns him a spot in the 2026 Masters and makes him exempt on Tour through 2027. He also gets automatic entry into the 2026 Players Championship and the 2026 PGA Championship and an exemption at the 2026 Sentry in Hawaii. He wins $1.728 million of the $9.6 million purse — more than he has earned in winnings across his career thus far.
Despite entering the day with a two-shot lead, Potgieter quickly fell down the leader board as he shot one over through five holes, including taking an unplayable lie on No. 2 for a bogey. His luck began to turn when he hit two birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 —the back nine went more smoothly.
• Rocket Classic leaderboard
“The front nine and the back nine definitely played different with the wind switch we had yesterday and today,” Potgieter said. “So it was definitely nice to get that birdie with seven and eight knowing that you’re going in to the back nine, where you’ve got some good opportunities that’s going to suit my game.”
Greyserman and Kirk, the co-leader after two rounds, each shot a final-round 5-under 67 to catch Potgieter (69) to force extra holes with the trio at 22-under-par 266. Birdies on 13, 14 and 17 brought Potgieter back in line. All three failed to birdie the 470-yard par-4 18th, though Kirk and Greyserman both had short putts to do so, setting up the playoff, which began on No.18 to an identical result, with Kirk missing a 9-footer.
Kirk bowed out after the second playoff hole, missing a 3-foot, 9-inch par putt on No. 15. Potgieter got up-and-down from the rough behind the flag, holing a 6-foot par putt, after Greyserman missed an 11-foot birdie for the win.
The two continued to battle through Nos. 16 and 14. Both broke even on the par-four 16th, with Greyserman, 30, grazing the cup from 16 feet and Potgieter missing wide right from 15½ feet after a beautiful fairway bunker shot.
On the par-five 14th, Potgieter barely missed the lip of the cup for a would-be winning eagle on a 19-foot putt. Both settled for birdie on the hole before resuming play on 15.
Potgieter, the youngest player on Tour as a 20-year-old South African, entered the final round with a two-shot lead and shot 3-under-par 69. He shot a then-course-record 62 in Thursday’s first round, which put him at the top of the leader board for much of the tournament.
Potgieter’s biggest strength is his driving. He leads the Tour in driving distance this season, at 326.6 yards, 6 yards longer than No. 2 Rory McIlroy. Potgieter is 26 yards longer than Tour average.
Detroit still owns the longest playoff in Tour history — 11 playoff holes at the 1949 Motor City Open, which ended in a tie between Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum.
Cam Davis (2021) and Rickie Fowler (2023) won the two other Rocket three-man playoffs, with Davis winning in five holes on No. 15 and Fowler winning on No. 18, the first playoff hole.
Michael Thorbjornsen and Jake Knapp, who shot a Detroit Golf Club-record 61 on Friday, tied for fourth this year at 21-under.
Collin Morikawa, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 5 in the world and making his second start in Detroit, finished tied for eighth at 19-under after shooting 4-under 68 Sunday. He lost as part of the playoff to Fowler in 2023.
Next year’s 2026 Rocket Classic moves back to July 30-Aug. 2, to be played two weeks after the season’s final major, The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
The new date also gives Detroit Golf Club more time to finish its $16 million renovation led by architect Tyler Rae, set to begin immediately Monday, June 30.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rocket Classic 2025: Aldrich Potgieter survives wild three-man playoff to win in Detroit
Reporting by Matthew Auchincloss, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
