LOS ANGELES – As his offseason wound down, Aldrich Potgieter texted his agent and said, “Wait until you see the new me.”
He wasn’t kidding.
After several months overhauling his training and diet, the 21-year-old, hard-hitting South African is down about 35 pounds from where he ended last season. He’s hovering right above 200 pounds, and the difference is immediately recognizable.
“I got in a nice system where I can kind of grind on some things that you can’t really do when you’re out here,” said Potgieter, who now works with renown trainer Marnus Marais, whose exclusive list of clientele includes world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “And being on the Tour for three years now and away from home, you get in some bad habits, and it just builds up over time. So, I think having some two months off to work on some things were good.”
Potgieter’s offseason included other changes, including new management (Entertainment Sports Partners), equipment (PXG) and apparel (also PXG). Though the weight loss went quick, Potgieter has been slower to adjust with the clubs.
He is still very long, ranking third on Tour, but entered this week’s Genesis Invitational ranked outside the top 130 in strokes gained approach, around the green and putting.
That contributed to Potgieter missing cuts at the American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open before tying for 60th against a limited field at Pebble Beach.
Perhaps it’s starting to all come together at Riviera, where Potgieter has fired back-to-back, 3-under 68s to sit in contention entering the weekend for the first time since winning the Rocket Classic last July.
“A lot of change,” Potgieter said, “and I think we picked up a little few things that changed with my posture and how I’m setting up to the ball. Lost some weight, so I think that kind of played a bit of a factor. So, when we figured that out, it was a little bit better.”