Rocket Classic Winner Is New Fan of Detroit Lions

Aldrich Potgieter needed grit, toughness and patience in order to capture his first PGA Tour tournament title.

The 20-year-old golfer needed five extra playoff holes in order to beat out his fellow competitors to take home the trophy at the 2025 Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club.

Prior to the event, Potgieter was able to play in the Pro-Am with Detroit Lions Jake Bates, Jack Fox and Hogan Hatten.

Detroit's talented kicker was spotted watching the playoff and cheering on the South African Golfer donning green and white during the final round.

Speaking with WXYZ-TV after winning, Potgieter shared he is now a fan of the NFC North squad.

"It's been awesome. Even playing in the Pro-Am with a couple of guys who play for the Lions," said Potgieter. "So, maybe I'm a Lions fan now. I need to find a pro team, so maybe it's going to be the Lions."

Holding the 54-hole lead proved difficult, as the leader struggled at the start of his final round.

"I think it's very different sleeping on a lead as well. I think if you're one or two shots back, you kind of have the mindset of, okay, I need to play well, and there's five or six guys who were right behind me two shots off the bat," said Potgieter. "So, I need to kind of feel what the day was going to be like. Saw some guys up early getting up that leaderboard."

Potgieter remained poised all throughout the final round, even early in the playoff, as putts were not falling.

Eventually, he was able to sink a putt that made him one of the youngest winners on Tour in decades.

"The guy I was playing with, Max, he was also playing really good golf. After that five or six holes when I lost the lead, I kind of figured, okay, we've got to change, we've got to play like we played the last three," said Potgieter. "And that was my intention going into the day as well, but it's so hard to commit and really trust to do that. You kind of need -- it's such a big mental switch you need to put on. Once I did that, it was kind of a big game changer."

Potgieter is the seventh-youngest winner on the PGA Tour since 1983 and finished at -22 (266).