Only a week ago, Aldrich Potgieter stood at the top of the mountain after he decimated the competition in the 2025 Rocket Classic. With that, the 20-year-old earned his first PGA Tour win. By the end of the second round in the John Deere Classic, it seemed like he would already be going for his second. However, to everyone’s surprise, that was not to be as per the latest update from TPC Deere Run.
As tweeted by the PGA Tour Communications, “Aldrich Potgieter is a WD following the third round of the John Deere Classic.” Underdog Golf also relayed the same message announcing the South African golfer’s exit from the tournament after 54 holes. He looked in great form for the first couple of rounds. However, a series of blunders in the third round saw Potgieter drop 45 spots to T58. But he was already within the cutline and had no reason to skip the remainder of the event. So what made him withdraw?
Well, the fans seem to be just as puzzled about the situation as everyone else. The fact that he didn’t provide an explanation regarding his decision makes it an even bigger mystery. The PGA Tour has also not revealed any information about his withdrawal so far. That’s why both the tweets received a lot of confusion and a few comical reactions regarding the young golfer in his rookie season on the PGA Tour.
Aldrich Potgieter is a WD following the third round of the John Deere Classic.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 5, 2025
Let’s see what the internet had to say about Aldrich Potgieter’s exit from the third round of the 2025 John Deere Classic.
Aldrich Potgieter’s exit leaves the internet dazed
After the outstanding display of strokeplay he had put in so far, Aldrich Potgieter’s withdrawal took everyone by surprise. There are some who believe that his terrible third-round performance had something to do with it. One of the fans commented, “76 at tpc deere run will do that to you.” After shooting 67-66 in the first couple of rounds, Potgieter scored 6 bogeys and a double to bring his score down by 5. After being on such a great run of form, a terrible round might have pushed his buttons enough to make him withdraw to regain focus. His win last week was also picked apart by an analyst after they criticized it for playing a risky game.
He will certainly need that focus as he takes on some of the best golfers in the world at The Renaissance next week. Jokingly, one of the fans stated, “Potgieter found a late flight tonight to Scotland and decided to jump on it.. .” Perhaps TPC Deere Run was not providing him enough of a challenge to prepare for the battle against the likes of Scottie Scheffler & Rory McIlroy next week. Or maybe he was just too eager to check out the course in North Berwick.
Another also suspected the same but was a little more serious with his accusations. He said, “@TheShotgunStart Is it because he’s hurt or just wanted to get over to Scotland? Not a good look if he’s just trying to get out of town.” It certainly won’t bode well for many if Potgieter only skipped the last round because he dropped out of contention and thought it was more important to prioritize the Genesis Scottish Open now. PGA Tour events will be in shambles if everyone starts doing that.
Speaking about big tournaments, someone also mentioned, “Thats not great with Open birth looming.” Quitting after one terrible round certainly won’t leave a great impression on The R&A. He has still not made the field for the trip to Royal Portrush. This incident and his lack of clarification might reflect negatively on his profile.
Still looking for answers, someone wrote, “Would love to hear more about why this happened…” Like them, many are hoping to learn why Aldrich Potgieter quit the 2025 John Deere Classic after completing 54 holes. Only time will tell when the reason is revealed.
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