Alexander: Aldrich Potgieter is having one of those (really good) weeks ...Middle East

PACIFIC PALISADES — When we think of the PGA Tour, we think of the big names. During this week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera, you might be checking the score list to see how Rory McIlroy is doing (a solid second behind Jacob Bridgeman, although six shots back at 13-under),  or maybe Scottie Scheffler (tied for 20th at 5-under after recovering from a tough opening round, yet still lurking).

But the soul of the tour, its gristle and fiber, is that mass of players who grind it out from week to week, fighting to make the cut and aiming for that occasional great round or successful tournament as the impetus that keeps them going.

Players like Aldrich Potgieter, a 21-year-old South African who could be experiencing another of those weeks here. Despite a bogey on 18 Saturday, he shot a 6-under 65 and moved into third place at 12-under. And while Bridgeman carries a commanding lead into Sunday’s final round at 19-under after Saturday’s 64, stranger things have happened.

At face value, it might seem discouraging for a tour player to miss multiple cuts in a row, tantalize himself and those around him with a couple of top 10 or top 25 results, then miss more cuts … lather, rinse and repeat.

But it’s part of the process.

“I mean, it’s pretty stressful going into some weeks where you’ve got really big events and you don’t feel like your game’s quite there,” Potgeiter said after Saturday’s round. “We decided we’re going to play early in the year. We’ve got a lot of changes, equipment, a couple other things as well. So … kind of get through that first stage of everything’s new, got to test it out a little bit.

“It was tough coming off the offseason, having two months off as well, with new stuff in the first couple weeks. We saw (some) missed cuts (at La Quinta, Torrey Pines and Scottsdale, before a tie for 60th last week at Pebble Beach), but it’s kind of the process we had to push through to get where we are today.

‘I’m happy we did that, and I know it takes a little bit of the confidence away, but yeah, I think looking back last year and even Korn Ferry (the developmental tour), I missed a lot of cuts.”

It is part of the process of playing at this level of competition. While playing new courses and trying to maintain his confidence at the same time, he’s trying to develop the consistency needed to make an impact. And I asked him if there are times he has to talk himself out of being discouraged.

“It’s tough missing three cuts in a row, but you can kind of see progress getting better and better every week,” he said. “So we went to Waste Management (in Scottsdale two weeks ago). I wasn’t going to play but I felt like I needed to to get kind of through that stage a little bit more and do some prep for this week. It’s nice to have a week off and you can work on your game a little bit, but I felt like the game was decent. I just couldn’t put a score together.”

But sometimes all it takes is one or two good weeks to dramatically change one’s outlook.

Potgieter, who entered this week third in the PGA stats in driving distance (327.1 yards), had a great week last June in Detroit, when he won the Rocket Classic in a five-hole playoff with Max Grayserman and Chris Kirk after going 22-under for 72 holes with rounds of 62, 70, 65 and 69. That earned him $1,728,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points – and, most importantly, it also earned him a two-year exemption from having to qualify through the end of the 2027 season.

That, more than anything, could be this sport’s Holy Grail. Winning tournaments, winning majors, finishing high on the money list are all important – but the confidence that you’ll have full playing privileges from week to week might carry greater importance.

“I mean, that was huge for us as a team, for me as well,” Potgieter said. “I think that gives you a lot of confidence knowing that you can do it. Especially coming into some of these big events, majors, you can kind of put your focus on those a little bit more. Obviously, we want to try and win every event we’re playing, but you kind of have to structure it to kind of focus a bit more on the majors.

“So I think that plays into the schedules a little bit as well, so you want to play events leading up. I think us golfers, we have a process of building four or five weeks in a row. And you want the major to be the time you play the best. So I think that’s also building that schedule to suit that.”

That win last June did something else, too.

“That set me up for the next two years,” he said. “And if I just play like I played last year, I know that’s gonna keep me where I’m at, but obviously we want to miss less cuts and be a bit more consistent.

“But yeah, it is (a confidence-builder). I’m 21 and got a long future ahead of myself, but I think if you look at where some of the players are, like Scottie (Scheffler, who’s 29 and ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings) … I’ve got a lot of work I can still do to get to where he is.

“So I think it’s important not to compare myself to him right now and just kind of stick to my own thing.”

Weeks like these absolutely will help.

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