PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Two days after Joe Highsmith made a nervy par putt to make the lower, he gained the Cognizant Basic with the bottom weekend ever at PGA Nationwide and goes to the Masters.
Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies across the flip and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventeenth that each one however clinched it, giving him one other 6-under 64 to win his first PGA Tour title by two pictures.
“Successful was the very last thing on my thoughts,” Highsmith mentioned. “It is unimaginable to return out on high. I performed most likely the most effective spherical of my life.”
Highsmith had just a little assist from Jake Knapp, who opened the event with a 59 and held it collectively till one shot into the water and two extra to get out.
Knapp, making an attempt to develop into the primary wire-to-wire winner in event historical past, had a one-shot lead when his wedge to the eleventh got here up quick and into the water, with solely half of the golf ball submerged. He tried to blast out and it trickled down the slope and again to the water. He tried once more, this time the ball holding up within the tough.
“Did not hit any of them actually exhausting sufficient, sadly,” Knapp mentioned.
He would up with a triple bogey and by no means caught up. Knapp did not make one other birdie the remainder of the best way, closed with a 72 and tied for sixth together with Michael Kim (71), who performed with him within the closing group.
Jacob Bridgeman closed with a 64 and J.J. Spaun had a 66 to share second place.
“I used to be making an attempt to make as many birdies as I might,” Bridgeman mentioned. “I knew I needed to do one thing form of extraordinary at the moment to catch the leaders, and I caught them, however they’re solely on the ninth gap.”
His runner-up end was sufficient to get him into the Arnold Palmer Invitational subsequent week.
Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, grew to become the primary participant to make the lower on the quantity and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016.
With so many gamers within the combine going into the ultimate spherical, it was set as much as be a wild end, and 5 gamers had at the very least a share of the lead at one level.
Highsmith eradicated the drama within the closing hour with a flawless spherical and an unforgettable weekend he performed in 14-under 128. His massive run began with a wedge to three ft on No. 9. He two-putted for birdie on the par-5 tenth and rolled in an 18-foot birdie on No. 11.
He added a 15-foot birdie putt on the thirteenth to take management, after which sealed it together with his birdie putt down the slope on the seventeenth.
Highsmith was all smiles coming off the 18th inexperienced together 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 profitable the Mexico Open. He completed at 19-under 265 and picked up loads of perks. Together with incomes a spot within the Masters and PGA Championship, Highsmith is within the remaining 5 signature occasions, beginning subsequent week at Bay Hill.
Jordan Spieth had 4 birdies in a five-hole stretch across the flip to get on the perimeter of competition, solely to play the ultimate six holes in 1 over for a 68 to tie for ninth, his second high 10 in 4 begins since coming back from wrist surgical procedure final August.
Florida State junior Luke Clanton, who secured a PGA Tour card by means of the PGA Tour College program by making the lower, shot 69 and tied for 18th.
Highsmith shot the bottom 72-hole rating for the reason that event moved to PGA Nationwide, which has held two PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup, in 2007. The course was overseeded, making the tough much less daunting and the fairways softer.
“I get that the overseed was there and the wind was down, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a disturbing golf course, and this was a few of the greatest golf I’ve seen performed relative to what I’d have thought would have occurred on a golf course in fairly some time,” Spieth mentioned. “It is loopy good golf on the market.”
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