This week the PGA Tour crowned yet another first time winner in Joe Highsmith. Even with Jake Knapp stealing the show on Thursday after joining the 59 club and setting the course record by two, Highsmith persevered and pulled through in the end. 

Highsmith played his first full season on the PGA Tour last year, where he played in 26 events and only made 13 cuts. When he did make the cut, he seemed to make it count, as he did post 7 top-25’s and 3 top-10’s in his rookie campaign. This year his start has been inconsistent, similar to his 2024 season. In his five starts thus far, he has made just two cuts, with his best finish coming in Mexico last week where he posted a T17. This week, he was able to carry over whatever he found last week and turned it into a PGA Tour victory. 

PGA National is normally known as one of the toughest on Tour, but as play began on Thursday it was clear that this was not the case. The players had perfect weather conditions all week with hardly a breath of wind, and some rain earlier in the week made the greens much more receptive. While Knapp posted a 59 in the opening round, he was not the only one to shoot a low number. A host of players lined up behind him in the 6-8 under range, amongst them was Highsmith who carded an opening 65. After taking a step backward on Friday with a 72, Highsmith made the cut on the number at five under par and was hardly a threat to the leaders who had already reached 12-under par. 

Knowing he had to go low to have any chance, Highsmith played the weekend almost flawlessly. He made 13 birdies, an eagle, and just one bogey on the weekend on his way to back-to-back rounds of 64, getting him in the clubhouse early at a comfortable 19-under par. With the last few groups feeling the wrath of “The Bear Trap”, Highsmith, who had played the 3-hole stretch in 1-under for the week, was able to hold off any challenges en route to a two-shot victory.

WITB - Joe Highsmith

Titleist staffer Joe Highsmith earned his first PGA Tour victory at the Cognizant Classic on Sunday with a full bag of Titleist clubs.

All WITB information is courtesy of GolfWRX.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (8 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 60 6.5

Highsmith starts off the bag with a Titleist GT3 Driver, playing it at 8 degrees with a HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 60 6.5 shaft in it. The lefty swung it beautifully off the tee this week, allowing him to avoid all the water and play primarily from the fairways. Overall, he hit 36 of 56 fairways off the tee, which was tied for the 14th best accuracy among all players. He also ranked 25th in driving distance, averaging 305.9 off the tee. That combination of accuracy and solid distance helped Highsmith gain 2.895 Strokes Off The Tee, which was 11th best for the tournament.

3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Yellow 70 6.5 TX

Moving to his fairway woods, where Highsmith stays within the GT lineup, and stays with the GT3 model. The GT3 is the most adjustable fairway wood among the GT lineup and gives Highsmith a lower-spinning, option to hit off the tee when needing to shape a specific shot or target a specific distance, but also gives him plenty of firepower to attack par 5's with when needed.

Irons: Titleist T200 (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)

Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 HY 6.5 (2), Project X LS 6.5 (4-9)

His iron set is pretty straight forward, with T100’s in 4-9 iron, but he also carries a T200 2-iron that is useful off the tee as well. The 2-iron has a HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 graphite shaft, while the rest of the set has Project X LS 6.5’s.  Highsmith's approach-to-green performance was also very solid. He found 56 of 72 greens in regulation, including 16 of 18 in Sunday's final round when he made his charge. Overall he ranked 23rd in Strokes Gained Approach-To-Green, gaining 2.731 strokes on the field. 

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 50-12F, 54-14F, 58-04T)

Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White S400 (46-54), S300 (58)

Around the greens, Highsmith employs four Vokey Design SM10 wedges (46, 50, 54, and 58 degrees). In his PW, SW, and GW Highsmith plays a AMT Tour White S400 shaft, while playing a S300 in his lob wedge, allowing for a slightly softer feel around the greens. Just like his iron play, Highsmith's wedge play was solid. He converted 11 of his 16 scramble opportunities, including getting up-and-down from the sand on 6 of his 8 tries. Overall, he gained 0.937 strokes around the green, which ranked 28th among all players.

Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Tour Prototype

Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy

One of the keys to his success this week was a recent putter change. Before the Phoenix Open, Highsmith switched to a new custom Scotty Cameron 009M Prototype. This week the new gamer treated Highsmith well, as he finished 7th in strokes gained: putting, and was 1st on Saturday as he started his surge to the top of the leaderboard.

Lykia Ko adds to HOF resume with 23rd LPGA Victory

One of the best women to ever tee it up, Lydia Ko, added to her incredible resume with a win at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, her first victory at the event in 11 tries.

Ko entered Sunday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Charley Hull, but after Hull carded a final round 74, Ko was in full control of the tournament. Three straight birdies on holes 6, 7 and 8 put the tournament pretty much out of reach, and though she gave a stroke back on 11, she bounced back with a birdie two holes later, putting the tournament out of reach.

Ko’s four-stroke victory was the 23rd LPGA win of her career, and first since the Kroger Queen City Championship back in September.