PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Two days after Joe Highsmith made a nervy par putt to make the cut at the Cognizant Classic, he won the tournament with the lowest weekend ever at PGA National and is going to the Masters next month.
Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it, giving him another 7-under-par 64 and a two-stroke margin in his first PGA Tour victory.
“Winning was the last thing on my mind,” said Highsmith, who finished the 72-hole tournament on the Champion Course at 19-under 265. “It’s incredible to come out on top. I played probably the best round of my life.”
Highsmith had a little help from Jake Knapp, who opened the tournament Thursday with a 59 — just the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history — and held it together until one shot into the water and two more to get out.
Knapp, trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in this tournament’s history, had a one-stroke lead when his wedge shot to the 11th green came up short and into the water, with only half of the golf ball submerged. He tried to blast out, but it trickled down the slope and back to the water. He tried again, this time the ball holding up in the rough.
“Didn’t hit any of them really hard enough, unfortunately,” Knapp said.
He wound up with a triple bogey and never caught up. Knapp didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way, closed with a 72 and tied for sixth with Michael Kim (71), who played with him in the final group.
Jacob Bridgeman (64) and J.J. Spaun (66) shared second place.
“I was trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Bridgeman said when his round was over. “I knew I had to do something kind of extraordinary today to catch the leaders, and I caught them, but they’re only on the ninth hole.”
His runner-up finish was enough to get him into the Arnold Palmer Invitational that starts Thursday at Bay Hill in Orlando.
Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell (71), a Baylor School graduate, tied for 42nd at 8 under.
AP photo by Rebecca Blackwell / Joe Highsmith lines up a putt on the second green on the Champion Course at PGA National during Sunday’s final round of the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.Highsmith, a 24-year-old left-hander from Lakewood, Washington, with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player at a PGA Tour event to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker in the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open at San Diego’s Torrey Pines.
With so many players in the mix going into the final round, it was set up to be a wild finish, and five players had at least a share of the lead at one point.
Highsmith eliminated the drama in the final hour with a flawless round and an unforgettable weekend in which he played his 36 holes at 14-under 128. His big run Sunday started with a wedge to three feet from the cup on No. 9. He two-putted for a birdie on the par-5 10th, then rolled in an 18-foot birdie on No. 11. He added a 15-foot birdie putt at the 13th to take control, then sealed it with his birdie putt down the slope on the 17th.
Highsmith was all smiles coming off the 18th green with his caddie Joe LaCava IV, the son of the caddie who was on the bag for Masters champions Fred Couples in 1992 and Tiger Woods in 2019, and who now works for Patrick Cantlay.
Highsmith is the second first-time winner in as many weeks, following Brian Campbell winning the Mexico Open. Along with earning a place in the Masters and the PGA Championship this year, Highsmith is in the remaining five signature events on the PGA Tour’s 2025 schedule, starting with the Arnold Palmer Classic.
Highsmith shot the lowest 72-hole score at this tournament since it moved in 2007 to PGA National, which has held two PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup.
The course was overseeded this time, making the rough less daunting and the fairways softer, but three-time major winner Jordan Spieth — he tied for ninth at 14 under after a closing 68 — defended the layout.
“I get that the overseed was there and the wind was down, but it’s still a stressful golf course,” Spieth said, “and this was some of the best golf I’ve seen played relative to what I would have thought would have happened on a golf course in quite a while. It’s crazy good golf out there.”
AP photo by Suhaimi Abdullah / LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko celebrates after winning the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.Long-awaited victory
SINGAPORE — LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko finally conquered the HSBC Women’s World Championship, with the 27-year-old from New Zealand winning the event on her 11th attempt in dominant fashion.
Ko closed with a 3-under 69 to finish the 72-hole event at Sentosa Golf Club at 13-under 275, four strokes ahead of runners-up Ayaka Furue (68) of Japan and Jeeno Thitikul (70) of Thailand.
Ko, who was the gold medalist at the Paris Olympics and the Women’s British Open champion last year, overcame a middling start to the final round before finding her rhythm with a birdie on the par-5 sixth. She added back-to-back birdies on the next two holes and was in control of the leaderboard from that point forward even with a pair of bogeys after making the turn.
“I dreamt last night that I won but then I woke up, and I was like, dang, it’s not real yet,” said Ko, who secured her 23rd LPGA Tour victory and her first since the Queen City Championship last September. “But I just wanted to focus on my game.”
“I started off really steady, and you know, didn’t really put myself in trouble that much. I think that was going to be the key for today.”
Ko’s previous best finish in this event was second in 2015.
“It’s exciting to finally add Asia’s major to my major collection,” she said.
England’s Charley Hull, just one shot behind Ko entering the final round, saw her title hopes fade after a frustrating 74, settling for a share of fourth at 7 under alongside South Korea’s Im Jin Hee (67) and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (70).
AP photo by Suhaimi Abdullah / LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko is doused with champagne by fellow players after winning the HSBC Women’s World Championship on Sunday at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.Naidoo wins playoff
DURBAN, South Africa — Dylan Naidoo held his nerve on the first playoff hole against Laurie Canter with a birdie putt to win the rain-marred South African Open, with his first victory on the Europe-based DP World Tour earning a spot in this year’s British Open.
The fourth round was first suspended and then canceled due to a flooded course at Durban Country Club.
The consolation prize for Canter was a runner-up finish that moves the 35-year-old Englishman into the top 50 in next edition of the Official World Golf Ranking, making him eligible for The Players Championship and its $25 million prize fund as the flagship event of the PGA Tour.
This year’s edition tees off March 13 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and Canter will be the first player from the LIV Golf League to compete in the tournament. He played on the Saudi-funded circuit in 2022 and 2023, and his final appearance as an alternate was in early February 2024. The tour policy is for LIV players to wait one year before playing on the PGA Tour.
Naidoo, a 27-year-old South African, and Canter each hit good tee shots in the playoff after being tied at 14-under 202 through 54 holes.
Naidoo’s superb second shot sent his chip from the fairway near the flag, though, while Canter went long toward the edge of the green. Canter missed his birdie putt, leaving Naidoo his short putt to win.
After the ball dropped in, he leaned back and his cap fell off as he put his head in his hands. Naidoo then hugged his caddie and let out a disbelieving laugh.
“I don’t know what to say, it just feels like a dream. Am I going to wake up at some point?” a jubilant Naidoo said moments later. “I don’t know what to say. This is a special moment for me, for everybody here in Durban. Jeepers!”
Naidoo set a course record with his 11-under 61 in the second round and felt the support of the home crowd.
“Yesterday, I felt like I was Tiger Woods, there were so many people, so much energy,” Naidoo said.
Three spots at the British Open were available at the South African Open, and Marco Penge and Darren Fichardt got the other two. Penge (68) of England tied for third at 13 under, while Fichardt (71) was another stroke back and shared fourth with fellow South African players Branden Grace (71) and Christiaan Maas (70).
Major for Peake
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand — Ryan Peake, a former motorcycle gang member who turned his life around through golf, earned a place at the British Open when he won the 104th New Zealand Open by one stroke.
The 31-year-old from Western Australia called his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia “life-changing” after sinking an eight-foot par putt on the tournament’s 72nd hole to avoid a four-way playoff with fellow Australian player Jack Thompson, Japan’s Kazuki Higa and South Africa’s Ian Snyman.
Peake, who closed out a 5-under 66 to finish at 23-under 261 at Milbrook Resort, earned close to $112,000 for winning. Higa and Snyman each shot a 66, while Thompson had the low round of the day with a 63 as that trio tied for second.
Peake had been a promising junior golfer — and a teammate of Cameron Smith, the 2022 British Open winner who competes in the LIV Golf League — before he was convicted of assault at age 21 and sentenced to five years in jail. He was a member of the outlawed Rebels gang in Australia.
His clearance to enter New Zealand was delayed by his criminal record.
After leaving jail, he returned to golf and began to rebuild his career with the help of leading coach Richie Smith and with the support of his family. Now, having just received his tour card this season, he is already a winner.
“I always knew I could do it, but it was just a matter of when I was going to do it,” Peake said. “Along with my family and my team, everyone believed, and most of all I believed as well.”
Peake, who trailed 54-hole leader Guntaek Koh of South Korea by four strokes heading into Sunday, took the lead for the first time on the 67th hole and went 55 holes without a bogey.
“I’ve just changed my life,” Peake said. “This is what I do. I just want to be here and play golf.
“The story is what it is. But I’m just out here playing golf.”