Comeback kid: Joe Highsmith goes from cutline to winner's circle at 2025 Cognizant Classic

Joe Highsmith went from the cutline to the winner’s circle.

The 24-year-old Highsmith shot a pair of 7-under 64s on the weekend at PGA National’s Champion Course to win the 2025 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches by two strokes and become the first player in nine years to make the cut on the number and hoist a tournament trophy two days later.

"That was the last thing I was expecting at the start of the day was a win," he said. "And then I had kind of a feeling coming down the stretch that I was playing really good and made no mistakes and I was like, 'Maybe I’ve got a chance.' I played probably the best round of my life, for sure." 

Highsmith rolled in a 20-foot birdie at the water-laden par-3 17^th on Sunday to cap off a bogey-free 64 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and a two-stroke victory over Jacob Bridgeman and J.J. Spaun. Highsmith finished with a 72-hole total of 19-under 265 to earn his first PGA Tour title.

Highsmith was in danger of missing the cut after a rollercoaster second round that included a double bogey and two bogeys. "I was like, man, am I really going to miss the cut?" he recalled. But he  snuck into the weekend by making a 5-foot par putt at 18 on Friday for rounds of 65-72 and trailed by eight strokes. Despite having what he described as “a really bad warmup” before his third round, Highsmith caught fire on Saturday with the short stick, ranking first in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.

“I putted as good as I ever have before and then some for sure,” he said after his third-round 64. “It was crazy to see all those putts drop.”

In the final round, he made four birdies in a five-hole stretch beginning at the ninth. Highsmith wasn’t the only one to earn his first victory on the Tour. Joe LaCava Jr., whose father has carried for Fred Couples and Tiger Woods during wins at the Masters among other wins, was on the bag for Highsmith, a Pepperdine grad. 

Highsmith was just happy not to have an early Sunday tee time. Last season, he found his groove during the fall portion of the season, rallying from No. 160 in the FedEx Cup regular season to finish No. 110 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and keep his playing privileges. He recorded two of his three top-10s in the fall and made 13 cuts in 26 starts. His claim to fame before his victory is becoming the first player on record (since 1983) to record three aces in a Tour season, making a hole-in-one at The American Express, Rocket Mortgage Classic and Wyndham Championship.

Highsmith erased a four-stroke deficit heading into the final round. This tournament belonged to Jake Knapp, who had held the lead all week since shooting 59 on Thursday, until he hit into the hazard fronting the 11th green and needed two attempts to dislodge his ball from a half-submerged lie. He made a triple-bogey 7 and failed to make another birdie. He shot 1-over 72 and finished T-6. 

"Honestly, I think I played super solid. I mis-hit the one shot on 11 and that was kind of the only thing I'd really take back," he said. "I think other than that, I'll think about the 59, obviously, but it's not that that shot is going to haunt me or anything like that."

Bridgeman matched Highsmith with 64 for the low round of the day, recording his first career top-10 finish, and shared second with Spaun (66). Highsmith became the first player to make the 36-hole cut on the number and win the tournament since Brandt Snedeker at the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open and just the sixth to do so since 2003.

Highsmith noted that his mother, who hit golf balls the day she was born, was scheduled to fly home at 3 p.m. "I was like, What if I’m 5 under after nine, mom?" Highsmith recounted. "I played great on the front (3 under) and I saw her on the 12^th hole and thought, yeah, she canceled her flight. Really glad she stayed." NBC's Kevin Kisner noted that Highsmith’s mom had told him that she was dressed for traveling and would have to change her outfit if she stayed. “Looks like she did,” Kisner said.

The victory changes the rest of Highsmith's year. He jumped 113 spots to No. 10 in the FedEx Cup and is exempt for the next two seasons. He also earned a spot in next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational as well as the rest of the remaining signature events. But best of all, he will make his debut at the Masters in April.

"It is just like the most incredible place on earth," he said. "Yhat tournament is going to be very special and something, obviously, you work towards your whole life but you never really know when you're going to get that chance."