Joe Highsmith (-19) has achieved victory at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, a PGA Tour tournament held this week from Thursday to Sunday at the Champion Course of the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The 24-year-old American golfer, professional since 2022, took advantage of Jake Knapp’s (-15) ‘collapse’ to turn his career around 180 degrees and regain the momentum he found in his game last autumn.
Because the Pepperdine University player, in his first season on the circuit after a brilliant year on the Korn Ferry Tour, failed to make the August playoffs and had to play for his card in the so-called FedEx Fall events. From the Procore Championship, the first of them, he finished in 150th place, but after two top 10s, an 11th, a 13th, and a 16th place, he managed to climb to 63rd place to secure another year with the best.
This year had passed without much glory in the early tournaments, with three missed cuts, a tied 66th place at the American Express, and a tied 17th at the Mexico Open. And this week was heading the same way. But after an opening round of 65 strokes and a second of 72, on Friday he managed to make the cut just with the five under par that allowed him to continue playing over the weekend. Two days in which, with two consecutive 64s, Saturday and Sunday, he completed an unforgettable comeback.
Nine years had passed since the last time a player who made the Friday cut in a PGA Tour tournament with the exact cut result ended up winning. It was Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2016. But the truth is that Highsmith played wonderfully throughout the weekend, with only one bogey in 36 holes, to end up sealing the first professional title of his career on the circuit with a shot he won’t forget: the birdie putt on the 17th, at the close of the Bear Trap.
- Five players have won on the PGA Tour in the last 20 years after making the cut with the exact result: Chris Couch (Zurich Classic 2006), Rory McIlroy (Wells Fargo 2010), Carl Petterson (RBC Canadian Open 2010), Brandt Snedeker (Farmers 2016) and today Highsmith
Joe had made three birdies on the first nine to get into the fight for victory. And his start on the back nine of the Champion Course was memorable, with birdies on the 10th, 11th, and 13th. At that moment, he was co-leader of the tournament alongside Jake Knapp, who was pushing the tremendous 59 from Thursday to the limit, which had allowed him to lead the standings all week. But just as Highsmith caught up with the Californian, the tournament’s sudden conclusion arrived.
Knapp, who had been conservative, avoiding mistakes and making birdies on the par fives of the 3rd and 10th, the second with a bit of luck after dropping without penalty after sending his ball to a stand, was overly ambitious on the 11th and squandered his high chances of winning. His second shot, from the fairway, fell short and ended up in the water. Half the ball was visible on the shore, he could have dropped with a penalty and conceded a stroke, but he risked trying to get it out of there and complicated his life…
Winning is hard.
Jake Knapp has been leading throughout the week.
This triple bogey moves him from co-leader to T5, 3 back @The_Cognizant. pic.twitter.com/OSU3xg7LpR
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2025
His first attempt was in vain, and the ball magically returned to an almost identical position. With the second, also with one foot in the lake, he managed to get it out of the water, but sent it to the rough, barely a metre above the position it was in. He recovered from there to the green, leaving himself a three-metre putt for double bogey. And as if the punishment wasn’t enough, he missed it, committing a triple bogey that, with the Bear Trap on the horizon, took him completely out of the equation. He died on the shore, quite literally.
Highsmith became the sole leader at that moment, but his lead over Jacob Bridgeman (-17), who had posted a fantastic result in Clubhouse more than an hour earlier when the wind was less strong, was slim. Players like J.J. Spaun (-17) were also pressing from behind. But Joe gave no one a chance with a solidity and security uncharacteristic of a player with just 33 tournaments on the PGA Tour. His passage through holes 15, 16, and 17 was that of a true champion.
Clutch when he needs it 💪@JoeHighsmith33 with a two-shot lead heading to 18 @The_Cognizant.
📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/XkmuiuFkTr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2025
He had no trouble making par on the par three that starts the famous Bear Trap. He almost made a birdie on the par four 16th, with a putt from over 12 metres that touched the edge of the hole. And he finally achieved it on the par three 17th, with a great shot from the tee flying over the lake and a superb seven-metre putt to set the final score. On the par five 18th, he took no risks, with his two-stroke lead being enough to seal the victory.
Highsmith has gone in just over four months from being on the edge to keep his card to securing two more years on the PGA Tour, a spot in THE PLAYERS, his first appearance at the Masters… all adorned with a cheque for $1,656,000 and a giant leap into the top 10 of the FedEx Cup 2025. The dream victory for a young man who played the piano at 12, claimed to be better at pickleball than golf, who stands out for a wide-brimmed hat that has brought him luck… and whose caddie is the son of the legendary Joe LaCava.
