Joe Highsmith lands first PGA Tour title after barely making the cut
Joe Highsmith claimed his maiden PGA Tour title with a scintillating final round performance at The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
1. J. Highsmith | -19 |
T2. J. Bridgeman | -17 |
T2. J. Spaun | -17 |
T4. M. McGreevy | -16 |
T4. B. Griffin | -16 |
T6. R. Henley | -15 |
T6. J. Knapp | -15 |
T9. E. van Rooyen | -14 |
T9. J. Spieth | -14 |
T11. M. Greseryman | -13 |
Joe Highsmith became the first player in nine years to win a PGA Tour event after making the cut on the number.
Highsmith tore round PGA National's Champion Course on Sunday to capture his first title at The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
The 24-year-old carded a flawless 7-under 64 to finish on 19-under par, two clear of Jacob Bridgeman and J.J. Spaun.
Jake Knapp - who hit a 12-under 59 on Thursday - held the 54-hole lead and was looking in control before he made a devastating triple bogey on the 11th hole.
"It's all a little bit of a whirlwind," Highsmith told reporters.
"That was the last thing I was expecting at the start of the day."
He added: "I mean, it's incredible. It feels really nice to just play a round of golf like that and get all the things that come from winning a tournament."
Knapp was tied for the lead but dropped five places down the leaderboard as Highsmith took control with birdies on 10, 11 and 13.
Highsmith played the notoriously difficult Bear Trap in 1-under par, courtesy of a birdie at the 17th and two safe pars on 15 and 16.
Victory means that Highsmith has earned an invitation to the 2025 Masters Tournament in April as well as a spot in the fields at all signature events for two years.
He made it through to the weekend on 5-under.
Highsmith is the first player to go on to win after making the cut on the number since Brandt Snedeker at the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open.
Clutch when he needs it @JoeHighsmith33 with a two-shot lead heading to 18 @The_Cognizant.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2025
NBC pic.twitter.com/XkmuiuFkTr
For his part, Knapp insisted that he had no regrets about his decision not to take a drop.
"I just think in the moment, even now I don't take it back," he said.
"It's just one of those shots you just have to end up hitting a little bit harder than I did."
He added: "It would have been nice to make some more putts, but the pins were more challenging today.
"We had the goal of just fairways and greens and two-putt the heck out of it, birdie all the par-5s and figured that would be enough, and if I did that, I would have been tied.
"[I am] just bummed about 11. It was really the only bad swing of the day."
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