However, Rocket declined an option to renew for 2027. In a statement the tour said it remains “interested in the Detroit market and will explore options for a new sponsor.”

Lashley tips his hat to fans during the 2019 trophy ceremony on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club. (Ben Jared/Getty Images)

The news comes as the PGA Tour is expected to announce a new two-tiered system beginning in 2028, a move that will ultimately push multiple current tour stops into the lower track that will be without the top 90 or so players on the circuit.

The announcement is believed to come the week after the U.S. Open at the Travelers Championship.

MORE: LIV Golf CEO deflects question on upcoming events as LIV faces uncertain future

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The arrival didn’t take long—well, this week it did, requiring 72 holes plus five extras to settle things. In the grand arc of a golf career, 20 years old is lightning fast for a maiden PGA Tour victory. That’s Aldrich Potgieter’s age, and that’s what Potgieter did on Sunday at the Rocket Classic, dropping an 18-footer that, coupled with clenched fists and a volcanic roar, announced to the sport that it’s latest Next Big Thing is here.

“It was definitely a tough day,” Potgieter said, outlasting Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk in a playoff. “The start didn’t go my way, I struggled to make putts, left a lot short. Finally got one to the hole, and I just saw the ball roll end over end and I knew it was going to go in.”

For someone so young, this breakthrough felt both inevitable and overdue. Potgieter’s talent has been undeniable since boyhood, compelling his family to uproot from South Africa to Australia in pursuit of competition and opportunities unavailable back home. The sacrifice proved prescient.

At 17, he captured the British Amateur in June 2022, becoming the second-youngest winner in the storied event’s history. A year later, he made the cut at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club as an amateur, then turned professional and immediately rewrote the record books—winning the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic to become the youngest victor in Korn Ferry Tour history.

The youngest South African PGA TOUR winner

20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter is a champion @RocketClassic! pic.twitter.com/6RjV7JeO0P

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 29, 2025

It wasn’t just that the kid could play, but how. In golf’s modern power revolution, Potgieter stands without peer. His stocky, 5’11”, 200-plus-pound frame carries a Jon Rahm-like density, natural ballast forged through years of rugby tackles and wrestling matches. Multi-sport athleticism courses through every swing, generating clubhead speeds that send golf balls disappearing beyond visible horizons. Watching Potgieter unleash drives makes you wonder if the game’s fundamental physics are shifting before our eyes in a way unseen since Bryson DeChambeau’s dramatic pursuit of distance five years ago.

Yet Potgieter’s rookie PGA Tour campaign has been a study in extremes. The tantalizing glimpses—a playoff loss at the Mexico Open in February (where Brian Campbell’s wayward tee shot ricocheted off a tree back into play for the winning break), a T-6 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge—suggested he was ready for the big leagues.

The cold statistics told a harsher truth. Entering Detroit, Potgieter had missed nine cuts in 13 starts, his approach play ranking a dismal 141st in strokes gained while his short game languished at 161st. Raw power, it turns out, only gets you so far when the rest of your arsenal remains unfinished.

Detroit Golf Club became Potgieter’s proving ground, where he entered Sunday’s final round with a two-shot cushion over five challengers and a deeper field breathing down his neck. But Potgieter discovered that leads evaporate quickly when pressure mounts.

Throughout a relentless Sunday, the leaderboard remained fluid—at one point, a dozen players clustered within two shots. Seventy-two holes couldn’t separate the contenders, forcing Potgieter into a playoff alongside Kirk and Greyserman. Kirk’s challenge ended at the second extra hole when a perfectly struck lag putt left him a manageable five-footer—one that stubbornly refused to fall. The duel continued between Potgieter and Greyserman, each matching the other’s precision through three more holes of playoff golf.

When Greyserman’s birdie putt at the fifth playoff hole went near the lip but didn’t fall, Potgieter pounced. His 18-footer found the center of the cup, triggering an explosion of emotion that spoke to months of frustration finally finding release.

FOR THE WIN!

Aldrich Potgieter gets it done on the FIFTH playoff hole @RocketClassic. pic.twitter.com/ztQ2FtInky

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 29, 2025

His convergence of explosive power, age, and championship pedigree raises an intoxicating question: just how high can Potgieter soar? His track record suggests we won’t wait long for the answer. Yet this Detroit victory merits appreciation beyond its predictive value—it represents the culmination of sacrifice, a journey Potgieter honored in his winner’s interview.

“We had to give up a lot, moving to Australia, moving back. Emigrating is definitely not the easiest thing,” Potgieter said. “Coming alone at the start of my career to the States and giving it a grind and having my dad here has helped so much. Yeah, big thanks to my family, friends, coaches, everyone who’s been involved to kind of get me to this point. I’m just happy to walk away as a winner.”

His father, Heinrich, had traveled to Detroit, and when Aldrich emerged from the playoff crucible, his first instinct was to find his father, their prolonged embrace in a moment they both had chased. The future will reveal how far Aldrich Potgieter can go, but this much is certain: he has officially arrived, and he’ll never forget who carried him here.

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The two-time major champ is making a second switch on his bag of 2025 at this week’s Rocket Classic. Adam Schupak of Golfweek reported the news on Wednesday morning from Detroit Golf Club.

Morikawa linked up with looper Joe Greiner in April. Greiner was coming off a successful two-tournament fill-in stint with Justin Thomas, helping him win the RBC Heritage. Previously, Greiner was the longtime caddie of Max Homa.

Greiner had been a replacement for JJ Jakovac, who had looped for Morikawa since he turned pro in 2019. Jakovac was on the bag for both of Morikawa’s major titles at the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship.

Morikawa will have Korn Ferry Tour player and former Cal teammate KK Limbhasut on his bag at this week’s Rocket Classic, according to Shupak.

Morikawa is currently No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but he hasn’t won a PGA Tour title since the 2023 Zozo Championship. And that’s the 28-year-old’s lone victory since claiming the claret jug nearly four years ago.

In his five starts with Greiner as caddie, Morikawa finished T-17 (Truist Championship), T-50 (PGA Championship), T-20 (Memorial), T-23 (U.S. Open) and T-42 (Travelers Championship).

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Still, they’re handing out a trophy and a hefty check. In fact, the total purse at the Rocket Classic this week at Detroit Golf Club is $9.6 million with the winner taking home $1.728 million.

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Collin Morikawa (5) and Keegan Bradley (7) are the only top-10 ranked players in the field. Bradley, of course, is coming off a dramatic victory last week at the Travelers Championship by making birdie on the last to top hard-luck Tommy Fleetwood, who is still searching for his first tour title. Bradley birdied the 72nd hole to win and is now in the heart of conversation for making his own U.S. Ryder Cup team for September at Bethpage Black. Morikawa has three top-10 finishes this season, with a pair or runner-up finishes at the Sentry and Arnold Palmer Invitational. He lost in a playoff at the 2023 Rocket Classic to Rickie Fowler.

Hideki Matsuyama (12), Ben Griffin (17) and Patrick Cantlay (20) are the others playing who are ranked inside the top 20.

Past Rocket champions Fowler and Tony Finau are participating this week. As is Nate Lashley, who won the first time this event was played back in 2019. Cam Davis returns to defend his title from last year. He also won the 2021 event.

The next three events: John Deere Classic, Genesis Scottish Open, The Open.

Here’s the rundown of what each player will earn this week who makes the cut. Check back here Sunday for updates after play is complete.

WIN: $1.728 million

2: $1.046 million

3: $662,400

4: $470,400

5: $393,600

6: $348,000

7: $300,000

8: $280,000

9: $261,600

10: $242,400

11: $223,200

12: $204,000

13: $184,800

14: $175,200

15: $165,600

16: $156,000

17: $146,400

18: $136,800

19: $136,800

20: $127,200

21: $117,600

22: $108,000

23: $100,320

24: $92,640

25: $84,960

26: $77,280

27: $74,400

28: $71,520

29: $68,640

30: $65,760

31: $62,880

32: $60,000

33: $57,120

34: $54,720

35: $52,320

36: $49,920

37: $47,520

38: $45,600

39: $43,680

40: $41,760

41: $39,840

42: $37,920

43: $36,000

44: $34,080

45: $32,160

46: $30,240

47: $28,320

48: $26,784

49: $25,440

50: $24,672

51: $24,096

52: $23,520

53: $23,136

54: $22,752

55: $22,560

56: $22,368

57: $22,176

58: $21,984

59: $21,792

60: $21,600

61: $21,408

62: $21,216

63: $21,024

64: $20,832

65: $20,640

66: $20,448

67: $20,256

68: $20,064

69: $19,872

70: $19,680

71: $19,488

72: $19,296

73: $19,104

74: $18,912

75: $18,720

76: $18,528

77: $18,336

78: $18,144

79: $17,952

80: $17,760

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