Pádraig Harrington’s putting woes continued in round two of the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, leading to a missed cut for the three-time major winner, while South African sensation Aldrich Potgieter opened up a four-stroke halfway lead thanks to a blistering 61.
Having covered his opening 18 in -3 but still missed several putts inside six feet, Harrington had plenty of reason to be optimistic before taking to the course in round two, but that optimism took a big hit when he double bogeyed the 10th hole for the second round in succession.
In Thursday’s opening round, it had come courtesy of a three-putt from just over four-feet on the difficult par-4, but on Friday, playing as his opening hole, it was a wayward tee shot that did most of the damage, finding the hazard right of the fairway before the damage was compounded by a missed seven-footer for bogey.
And it was an early blow that he’d never recover from, adding a further bogey on 16 and failing to take advantage of any of the three par-5s on Vidante’s back nine.
Another pair of dropped shots on three and four effectively ended his chances of making it through to the weekend, but he had the minor consolation of birdieing the last though it will do little to curb the disappointment of a poor week on the greens.
“Shot 75 for a one over total and a missed cut,” he wrote on ‘X’. “Struggled trusting my reads on the greens and putted badly because of that.”
Somebody who clearly wasn’t struggling with his reads was Potgieter.
The 20-year-old Pretoria-born talent, competing in just his 10th PGA Tour event, carded 10 birdies during a near-flawless round to move to 16-under and open up a four-stroke lead.
“Really happy with today,” said Potgieter. “I got off to a great start with five consecutive birdies on the front nine, which really helped me build momentum. I also had a great chip-in for par on 10 to keep that momentum going.”
Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, who claimed his first PGA Tour win at last year’s Houston Open, sits tied for second alongside American Brian Campbell at -12. Like Potgieter, Campbell is in search of his first PGA Tour victory.
England’s Aaron Rai, the 2022 Wyndham Championship winner, is one further adrift at -11.
As a PGA Tour rookie, Potgieter — who triumphed in the 2022 Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham — could become the fifth-youngest player to win on the Tour since 1983 if he captures the title.
Potgieter, who shot a 59 during a Korn Ferry event last year, became the fourth-youngest player since 1983 to post a round of 61 or better on the PGA Tour. He follows South Korea’s Tom Kim (2022), American Nick Dunlap (2024), and American Patrick Cantlay (2011).
Leading the PGA Tour in driving distance, Potgieter had an opportunity for a 59 but had to settle for pars on the par-five 14th and 18th holes.
“I made a lot of extra birdies today, so it didn’t hurt me,” Potgieter said.
He started with a tap-in birdie on the first, then followed with five more on the front side, draining a 16-foot putt on the par-3 fifth and 12-foot putts on the eighth and ninth.
After finding water off the tee on 10, Potgieter salvaged par with a 21-foot putt. He then tapped in for birdie at the par-5 12th and sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th.
“I was focused enough to save par and keep the momentum going forward,” he said. “I just tried to give myself a 10- to 15-foot putt on every hole and make birdie. If I can keep putting well, I think I’ll be in good shape.”
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