19th Hole

Why Aldrich Potgieter’s grandmother is going to be mad at him following Rocket Classic win

Published

12 months ago

Jun 30, 2025

After entering the final round of a PGA Tour event inside the top five an incredible five times this season, Aldrich Potgieter broke through Sunday at Detroit Golf Club. The impressive 20-year-old South African finished at 22 under par over 72 holes, tying with Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk, which kicked off the longest sudden-death playoff of the season.

After Kirk was eliminated on the second extra hole, the duel between Potgieter and Greyserman stretched to five playoff holes. It was on the par-3 15th that Potgieter finally drained an 18-foot birdie for the win, becoming the youngest South African victor on the PGA Tour in the process.

Following the tournament-clinching birdie putt, an understandably excited Potgieter plucked his ball from the hole and tossed it to a fan. An incredible souvenir, sure, but wouldn’t he have rather held onto it for his trophy room? Well, perhaps not his, but his grandmother’s, it turns out.

Speaking in a post-tournament press conference, the South African confirmed he tossed his Titleist into the gallery. When asked why, Potgieter responded:

“I don’t know, it was just in the moment. I was just pumped up. I know my grandma’s probably going to be quite mad at me. I give her all my stuff that I’ve won with, so she’s not going to be…happy.”

Imagining the stout 20-year-old tip-toeing home to South Africa in expectation of her scorn…

The only thing that can cast a pall on one’s first PGA Tour victory is a grandmother’s rage! But really, we’re sure she’ll understand. Hopefully, the tour stepped in to do the old memorabilia swap, trading the fan an autographed flag or something for the ball.

Anyway, here are a few more odds and ends from Potgeiter following his first PGA Tour win.

Not surprisingly, the day — which saw him start his round with a lead, lose the lead, take the lead, lose the lead, tie for the lead, then play five holes of sudden-death playoff golf — was a grind…

“It was a big grind. I mean, it was a very long day, kind of couldn’t get ahead of myself. I didn’t get off to the best start, so I knew there was a lot of holes still available, still to get back.

“There was a switch that kind of went off when I lost the lead and I kind of felt like I can kind of chase something. I kind of had to pull myself out of the environment I was in before those first couple holes and get in that chase mode where I can kind of play some different golf, golf that I played the first three days.”

His Airbnb checkout time put him in a tough spot…

“Waking up this morning was kind of difficult. I had to book out of my Airbnb at 10:00. Was out of there and only needed to show up to the course around 12:00. Drank a coffee somewhere and that got me a little shaky. No, it was OK. I kind of struggled to eat a little bit, kind of the nerves kicked in when I got here kind of sitting at player dining, but I think that’s just kind of normal and kind of have to get through that.”

Time off (and a fitting) paid dividends…

“It’s definitely nice to go home and see the family. I haven’t been home since February, since Mexico, and before that week I had three weeks off as well. So it was nice to get the refresh, come back with new equipment, not overthinking too much stuff.”

“I think I did a really good job of not coming in expecting too much because so much has changed. It’s nice. I thought I didn’t hit enough balls at home, I could have done a little bit more work, but it’s nice to kind of see some results coming from the club fitting and having some time off to breathe a bit.”

It’s easier to chase the leader than be the leader…

“I like to kind of set a target, to meet that target. It’s hard to kind of know what other guys are going to do. It’s kind of like playing match play, it’s very different to playing a golf course where you’re just trying to hit your golf ball, play the golf course every hole, it’s going to be different, where playing a player, it can change so much. And playing a player, you can be more aggressive with playing match play, but you also don’t want to make big mistakes because there’s six, seven guys right behind you pushing you right away. Once we made that switch, it definitely helped me to kind of go a little bit more flag hunting and hit the ball a little closer.”

Enjoy the highlights from Potgieter’s win below, courtesy of the PGA Tour.

See Potgieter’s winning WITB here.

19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

2 months ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”