Still only 21, he teed up in 20 PGA Tour events during the year and impressed with one win, one runner-up spot, and three top 10s. The win came in the Rocket Classic in June where Potgieter also shot his lowest round of the year, an opening 62 at Detroit Golf Club. His longest drive came at the Genesis Scottish Open where he launched the ball 367m.

The longest-hitting left-hander in the world had a year when he cemented his place on the PGA Tour with a win at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April. It helped lift him to his highest world ranking (38th) and set him up for a slew of invites around the world. There's something about a 'lefty' which draws the crowds, and this 26-year-old is set up for a big 2026.

The 2024 Olympian pulled a monster 362m drive out the bag at the Truist Championship which no doubt helped boost his average distance off the tee. He had an indifferent year, by his lofty standards, with two runner-up spots around the world and 12 missed cuts in 27 events, but he knows what it's like to win on the PGA Tour and it's a matter of when, not if, he does so again.

He is still chasing his first DP World Tour win, but his length will give him a chance every time he tees it up. His reputation was forged as an amateur where he was a star performer with the ability to hit it miles. When he finished second in the 2020 Joburg Open he unleashed a then DP World Tour record of 401m.

A winner on the Sunshine Tour, this 24-year-old is also a winner-in-waiting on the DP World Tour. He made the cut 15 times in 32 events in the year, including T7th at the Turkish Airlines Open, after opening with a 65 to be co-leader. It was a breakthrough year where he also made his debut in the DP World Tour's Rolex Series, at the Dubai Desert Classic.

A three-time winner on the DP World Tour, he has gone off the boil somewhat in the last few years but is testimony to the expression 'form is temporary, class is permanent'. The man who came one putt away from shooting a 59 at the 2018 Scottish Open has a solid all-round game, but his length off the tee is an extra string to his bow.

The only South African to average more than 300 metres off the tee in the northern hemisphere – and this coming from 112 drives over the season on this tour. Lamprecht had a breakthrough year, winning the Pinnacle Bank Championship after he finished runner-up in the DP Tour's Mauritius Open in 2024. Much is made of his height (2.03m), but it's his length which is leading the new generation of long-hitters.

Another in the generation of prodigiously-talented young South Africans making their breakthrough in north America. He turned professional in 2024 and dipped into the world's top 200 for the first time in 2025. Although winless as a pro, Botha's defeat in a playoff to Casey Jarvis in November's VOG Finals at Pezula shows he's on the brink of big things.

Although he's probably seen as something of a journeyman, the 36-year-old is still having fun on tour and his length will always give him a chance of being in contention for that elusive win to go with his only pro success at the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Classic. More recently, Daffue was runner-up in a playoff at the 2022 Albertsons Boise Open.

Carl Fourie | Tyrone Winfield | Sunshine Tour