Palm Beach Gardens, Florida – Joe Highsmith may feel like he’s breaking down under the pressure of cognitive classics.
It was on Friday, the only danger of layoffs. He is described as a 5-foot PAR putt called “the worst putt you want” that moves from right to left, moving for left-handed players. He made par. He cut it.
Two days later, he was the PGA Tour champion and entered the Masters for the first time.
Highsmith scored the lowest weekend in PGA national history, winning the 64-under 64-shot race to win the Cognitive Classic. He was the first player in nine years to go from cutting numbers to lifting trophys.
“Winning is the last thing in my mind,” said Gauss Smith. “It’s incredible to be in the first place. I probably played the best round of my life.”
Highsmith rebounded from a four-inning deficit with three consecutive birdies around the turn, and the 20-foot birdie putt on the 3rd 17 almost crowned it.
He got help from Jake Knapp, who opened the game with 59 times and fixed it together until a shot shot into the water and two others escaped.
Knapp tried to be the first line-to-line champion in tournament history, and his lead was a shot when his wedge wedged into the water and went into the water with only half of the golf balls flooded. He tried to explode, then drip the slope and then returned to the water. He tried again, this time the ball was lifted in rough conditions.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t really hit any of them,” Knapp said.
He would carry three bogeys and never catch up. Knapp didn’t let another birdie for the rest of the rest, ending with 72 and tied for sixth with Michael King (71), who played with him in the final group.
Jacob Bridgeman finished with 64 points and JJ Spaun shared second place with 66 points.
“I’m trying to make as many birds as possible,” Bridgeman said. “I know today I have to do something extraordinary to catch the leaders, I caught them, but they’re just on the ninth hole.”
His runner-up is enough to get him to next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Highsmith, a 24-year-old boy wearing a bucket hat and a wide smile, became the first player to advance to that number and win since Torrey Pines Brandt Snedeker in 2016.
It all started with a PAR putter on Friday.
“At 18, I found myself a 5-foot player, just for the game,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, would I really miss the layoffs?'”
He knew he could make up for the ground by the early hours of Saturday morning. He showed his courage to his thickness on Sunday afternoon. There are so many players that it is set as a wild end point, and five players have at least a leading part at some point.
Highsmith eliminated the show with flawless rounds and an unforgettable weekend in the last hour, playing a memorable weekend in 128 shots below 128. His big run started with the wedge of No. 9, winning two for Birdie on the 3-foot wedge on the 5th 10, and rolled in the 18-foot birds at No. 11.
He added a 15-foot birdie putt in Chapter 13 to control the control, and then sealed it with his birdie putt on the 17th.
Highsmith, who broke away from the 18th Green with his caddie, Caddy Joe Lacava IV, was the son of Caddy, who stood out for the Masters champions Fred in 1992 and Tiger Woods and Tiger Woods in 2019, and now works for Patrick Cantlay.
Highsmith is the second first winner in weeks after Brian Campbell won the Mexican Open. He finished the game with a 265-under 19 shot and received a lot of stipends. In addition to winning a spot in the Masters and PGA Championship, Highsmith also competes in the remaining five autograph games at Bay Hill next week.
“Did you say the master?” he said. “Last year, I played as an audience, because of any chance I could go there, I would take advantage of that. But it would be very special to play in that game, and obviously, you’ve been working on your whole life.
“But you never know when you have a chance.”
Jordan Spieth had four birdies in the five-hole turn to meet the edge of the argument and could only score the final six holes in 1 game to finish ninth, his second top ten since returning from wrist surgery last August.
Florida junior Luke Clanton won the PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University program through the layoffs and tied for 18th place.
Highsmith beat the lowest 72 hole score since holding two PGA titles and a PGA National in 2007 and won two PGA titles in 2007.
