Joe Highsmith delivered an impressive performance at the Cognizant Classic in Florida, overcoming a challenging start to the tournament.
After sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard following the first two rounds, the athlete surged back into the final round to claim victory by two shots. His stunning turnaround showcased his resilience and skill, which secured him a well-deserved win.
With this, Highsmith shared, “I played probably the best round of my life. My mum was supposed to leave at the turn, but I was like, ‘well what if I’m like five-under through nine, mom?’. I played great on the front, and then I saw her on the 12th hole and was like, ‘yeah, she cancelled her flight. ‘”
In a social media post, the PGA Tour shared: “A win to remember 🏆”
View this post on Instagram
Highlights of the event
The athlete needed to sink a five-foot putt on the 18th hole to make the cut on Friday. Moreover, he entered the weekend eight shots behind the tournament’s leaders. However, the 24-year-old athlete came up with an incredible comeback, firing back-to-back seven-under par 64s, setting a record for the lowest 36-hole score in the 53-year history of the event.
His performance brought him to a 19-under total, allowing him his first PGA Tour victory. This win also earned him automatic entry to The Masters at Augusta next month and the PGA Championship in May. This secured his PGA Tour card through 2027 and granted him entry to the remaining PGA Tour Signature Events for this season as well, starting with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which will start on Thursday.
The athlete said: “Those best players in the world, I don’t really play in the same events as any of them, especially last year and even this year. It’ll be pretty fun to get to compete and kind of see how I stack up with some of them.”