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. Then came his showing at the TPC Deere Run. And by the end of the second round in the John Deere Classic, the chances of him getting his second win were solid. However, to everyone’s surprise, that will not happen now.

Aldrich Potgieter has withdrawn from the John Deere Classic after playing the Saturday round. Potgieter entered Saturday in contention, having put 9 under on the leaderboard in the first 36 holes, but a series of blunders in the third round saw Potgieter drop 45 spots to T58. He shot 5 over in the third round, and fell 4-under for the tournament. His day started with 3 bogeys, 1 double bogey, and then a single birdie on the front nine. The back nine was no better. He shot 2 birdies and 3 bogeys. After completing the round, the golfer signed a few autographs.

Aldrich has not explained his WD decision, making it an even bigger mystery, but one can assume his 75 took a toll on his motivation. The PGA Tour has also not revealed any information about his withdrawal so far. This is making fans anxious.

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, and then having an abysmal third 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.