DETROIT - At just 20 years old, Aldrich Potgieter is on the verge of history. The youngest rookie on the PGA TOUR holds a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Rocket Classic after a Saturday 65 that included five straight birdies from holes Nos. 4 through 9.

If he can finish the job Sunday, Potgieter would become the youngest South African ever to win on the PGA TOUR, with heads turning his way not just because of his mind-blowing power off the tee.

Potgieter is casually averaging 329.4 yards off the tee this week, but interestingly enough, Potgieter is also ranked eighth in Strokes Gained: Approach thanks to a key equipment change. After struggling with low-spin knuckleballs that often flew long, he switched from traditional blades into a set of the new Titleist T100s ahead of this week in Detroit.

“I needed a bit more spin to keep the ball in the air a little bit longer,” Potgieter said. “So through the year I've been long over the green a lot, so trying to take that spin off shot into the wind."

According to his coach, the change was overdue. Potgieter’s length often left him with awkward 20-yard gaps between irons. Potgieter could experience difficulty feathering his irons, or putting a bit more energy into certain strikes with such a large gapping between scoring clubs.

Those issues weren't present as Potgieter birdied the par-3 fifth during his run of five straight birdies on the front nine, a putt he said where “momentum shifted."

Right behind him are five players tied at 17-under: Max Greyserman, Jake Knapp, Mark Hubbard, Andrew Putnam and Chris Kirk. Knapp, who fired a course-record 61 on Friday, cooled slightly Saturday but remains a major threat. Hubbard, who played alongside Potgieter, admitted it was hard to keep up.

“He putts it awesome, and he's got good hands for someone with that amount of speed," Hubbard said in what was an unusual, but successful round. “I hit three drivers off the deck today, which wasn't the norm.”

Greyserman has quietly kept himself in the mix with steady putting and strong tee-to-green play. “Obviously, I had three seconds last year. I haven't played well this year, but doing a lot of things well, just kind of haven't been at the top of the board."

Kirk, with six career wins, is the most seasoned contender in the bunch and has a history of closing on Sundays.

Lurking just behind are more dangerous talents. South African Thriston Lawrence, a Zurich Classic of New Orleans teammate of Potgieter last year, is part of a group at 16-under that includes fellow rookies Michael Thorbjornsen and Jackson Suber.

Then there’s Collin Morikawa, sitting four back at 15-under and suddenly rolling it with confidence after changing to a mallet putter mid-tournament.

Morikawa, who admitted to "putting like a blind man Thursday", said that he could finally feel like he was squaring the face with his new putter.

Morikawa leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and mentioned that Sunday’s possible wind shift back to the south could favor his game.

As we have seen plenty of times, Morikawa has the ability to play better than anyone in the field on Sunday, and has proven it on a massive stage.

So has Potgieter, just not at this level. Sunday will test more than his distance. It will test his poise and his belief that a breakthrough win is not just possible, but imminent.