What happens during the PGA Tour offseason can significantly impact how the following season goes. Rising PGA Tour pro, Aldrich Potgieter, was expecting something similar after his body transformation. However, he learned the hard way that a few things don’t change easily. The talent never vanished, but the adjustment period proved far tougher than he thought.

“It’s definitely helped me play five weeks in a row. I think that’s huge. I didn’t really feel a massive difference because I lost it over a three-month period. It wasn’t just straight off,” Aldrich Potgieter told bunkered.co.uk. “I would say we expected some things to change, but it wasn’t too much.”

The 21-year-old South African PGA Tour rookie underwent a significant body transformation, losing 30-35 pounds during the offseason. The change did affect his game, though. He missed three straight cuts before rebounding with a T60 at Pebble Beach and a strong fifth at the Genesis Invitational in the 2026 season.

As he became a little slim, it changed his on-course posture. Instead of sitting down slightly early, Aldrich Potgieter was standing upright. This affected his golf swing, which he has been working on for the past couple of weeks.

He planned this weight transformation during the offseason.

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“During the season it’s so hard to concentrate on a million things,” Aldrich Potgieter added. “You also don’t want to add anything that’s going to disrupt your consistency, especially if you’re doing a few things right.”

The idea was to keep it simple and focus on a few things that can be done correctly. So, he went home for about 2.5 months during the offseason and focused on his diet and exercise. To quickly reduce some calories, he went swimming with his family every day for around 2 hours.

The South African professional revealed that it was initially difficult for a few days. However, the consistency did yield results. After a point, everything in the gym that was challenging initially seemed to get a little easier.

He has now transitioned his body to better suit his golfing career. In fact, he did admit that being able to play five weeks in a row was huge for him.

While his body transformation has begun, his journey to mental strength commenced much earlier.

Aldrich Potgieter opens up about mental struggles

Potgieter turned pro in 2023 and wowed everyone as he won the 2024 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, which was just his second event. The biggest weapon he had in his arsenal was his immense strength. Since his body was well built, his drives averaged 337 yards off the tee. It is around a dozen yards longer than even PGA Tour leaders, including Rory McIlroy.

Despite that big weapon, he struggled on shorter courses. In fact, he missed 11 of 24 cuts in 2024 on the Korn Ferry Tour, including 10 after his victory.

“I missed a lot of cuts and slipped into a dark space,” Aldrich Potgieter told Golf Digest.

It was his family who took him out of that dark space. His father is a former rugby champion and his support pillar. He urged patience and reminded him that even if it might not seem like that at the moment, he belonged.

This motivation fueled his Korn Ferry success. This earned him a PGA Tour card via a top-60 finish on the money list. On the PGA Tour in 2025, he won the Rocket Classic. He led all four rounds in driving average at 337.2 yards. This means that he had started trusting his drives yet again.

His earlier battle with confidence shaped his resilience. And he now leans on that resilience during this physical transition. That mental toughness, built through setbacks, may ultimately prove just as important as the offseason body transformation.