Aldrich Potgieter became the youngest professional to record a sub-60 round in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event as more records continued to tumble on the Kerry Ferry Tour.
The big-hitting 19-year-old found 10 birdies and one eagle on the Pacos Course at Colombia's Country Club de Bogota en route to a record-breaking 59 to take the lead at the halfway stage of the Astara Golf Championship.
The impressive achievement comes just one day after Chile's Cristobal Del Solar carded the lowest round ever recorded on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour, with a breathtaking 57 in the first round of the same event.
"I had to play well, I knew I had to play well to be able to shoot this low. It was just kind of the confidence to hit the ball, get it close, make putts," Potgieter reflected after the round.
"Not many mistakes, I think that was a big thing, trying to eliminate the mistakes and just try to keep the ball in play. There's not much danger on the short course, so just try to shoot under the 60s, try to get as low as I can, but definitely looking at that.
“I kind of knew. I was kind of trying to get to that 57, so I was trying to push myself, but then kind of realized that we're still in a golf tournament, we're not playing a fun round out here, so I was kind of trying to concentrate when I made those last three birdies, which helped a lot.”
At just 6,254 yards, the par 70 layout is the shortest on tour and plays at around 9,000 feet above sea level. Despite those advantages, there had, prior to this, week never been a sub-60 score recorded on the course in tournament.
Starting with two consecutive birdies, the South African suffered a blip with an untimely bogey on the fourth. He responded in style though, with four birdies in a row between holes seven and 11.
Eagle on the par-five 12th, followed by a birdie on 13, opened the door for Potgieter and the 2022 Amateur Championship winner stormed through, finding three birdies in his final four holes to seal a 59, the fifth sub-60 score seen on the Korn Ferry Tour in the last year.
Aldrich Potgieter won in The Bahamas earlier in the year
Potgieter, who only turned professional after the US Open last year, became the youngest Korn Ferry Tour winner at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic earlier in the year and is already targeting a full-time spot on the PGA Tour next year.
"I feel like I'm good enough to be playing on this high level or even playing on the PGA Tour in a couple of months," he reflected. "Really looking forward to getting into that top 30 and making sure that I get that card at the end of the year. Hopefully just getting a few more wins on the way there.”
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