Joe Highsmith went from nearly packing his bags to absolutely owning the weekend in Palm Beach, winning the tourney and pocketing a cool $1,656,000. A seven-figure payday for a 24-year-old newbie on tour makes for a glorious Monday day off.
He torched the weekend with back-to-back 7-under 64s. Two days after barely making the cut, he was the one hoisting the trophy at the 2025 Cognizant Classic. That’s not just a comeback—that’s a good ol’ fashioned ass kicking.
“Winning was the last thing on my mind,” Highsmith said. “But then I got locked in, played perfect golf, and thought, ‘Hold up… I might actually steal this thing.’ And, well… here we are!”
His dagger? A filthy 20-foot birdie on the nerve-wracking, water-soaked 17th, capping off a bogey-free Sunday 64. With a final score of 19-under 265, Highsmith walked away with his first PGA Tour title, leaving Jacob Bridgeman and J.J. Spaun wondering what just hit them.
Winners & Losers from Sunday’s Final Round in Palm Beach:
- Loser: Stud Mathew Pavon. He French dipped his final round chances starting on #4 when he carded a double on the gettable par 4. He dropped 34 spots on the leaderboard. This was a shocker.
- Winner: Jordan Spieth. He jumped 5 spots on the board after firing a final round 3-under, 68. His T-9 was his 2nd top 10 in his last three tourneys. His game is coming around. If he can keep improving, he’ll have a shot to be in contention at the Masters – a tournament he traditionally plays well in.
- Loser: Jake Knapp. After sharding himself on #11 yesterday, he failed to make a single birdie or a charge up the board coming in. He made a tough call to play it from the water after hitting a terrible approach shot that came up short. Ouch.
- Winner: Jacob Bridgeman. We have no idea who this guy is, but who cares? His low round of the day, a 7-under 64, helped him leap 22 spots on the board and finish up T-2. Woots and toots.
- Loser: Taylor Montgomery wants to click his heals together, go back in time, and replay #16 Sunday. His triple bogey 7 cost him around $250k.
2025 Cognizant Classic Prize Money Payouts
| Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Joe Highsmith | -19 | $1,656,000 |
| T2 | Jacob Bridgeman | -17 | $818,800 |
| T2 | J.J. Spaun | -17 | $818,800 |
| T4 | Max McGreevy | -16 | $414,000 |
| T4 | Ben Griffin | -16 | $414,000 |
| T6 | Russell Henley | -15 | $310,500 |
| T6 | Michael Kim | -15 | $310,500 |
| T6 | Jake Knapp | -15 | $310,500 |
| T9 | Erik van Rooyen | -14 | $259,900 |
| T9 | Jordan Spieth | -14 | $259,900 |
| T11 | Max Greyserman | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Min Woo Lee | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Shane Lowry | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Andrew Putnam | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Brice Garnett | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Sepp Straka | -13 | $184,986 |
| T11 | Doug Ghim | -13 | $184,986 |
| T18 | Matti Schmid | -12 | $117,606 |
| T18 | Nicolai Hojgaard | -12 | $117,606 |
| T18 | Alex Smalley | -12 | $117,606 |
| T18 | Luke Clanton (a) | -12 | $0 |
| T18 | Patrick Rodgers | -12 | $117,606 |
| T18 | Victor Perez | -12 | $117,606 |
| T18 | Rickie Fowler | -12 | $117,606 |
| T25 | Niklas Norgaard | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Charley Hoffman | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Billy Horschel | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Rico Hoey | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Ryan Gerard | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Daniel Berger | -11 | $73,272 |
| T25 | Taylor Montgomery | -11 | $73,272 |
| T32 | Quade Cummins | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Beau Hossler | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Vince Whaley | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Chan Kim | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Jesper Svensson | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Joel Dahmen | -10 | $52,638 |
| T32 | Brian Harman | -10 | $52,638 |
| T39 | Michael Thorbjornsen | -9 | $41,860 |
| T39 | Isaiah Salinda | -9 | $41,860 |
| T39 | Karl Vilips | -9 | $41,860 |
| T42 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -8 | $33,580 |
| T42 | Taylor Moore | -8 | $33,580 |
| T42 | Jackson Suber | -8 | $33,580 |
| T42 | Keith Mitchell | -8 | $33,580 |
| T42 | Zach Johnson | -8 | $33,580 |
| T42 | Matthieu Pavon | -8 | $33,580 |
| T48 | Davis Riley | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Denny McCarthy | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Sami Valimaki | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Matt McCarty | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Sam Ryder | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Patrick Fishburn | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Rikuya Hoshino | -7 | $24,091 |
| T48 | Brian Campbell | -7 | $24,091 |
| T56 | Chris Kirk | -6 | $21,252 |
| T56 | Bud Cauley | -6 | $21,252 |
| T56 | Kris Ventura | -6 | $21,252 |
| T56 | Ricky Castillo | -6 | $21,252 |
| T56 | Matt Kuchar | -6 | $21,252 |
| 61 | Jhonattan Vegas | -4 | $20,700 |
| T62 | Ben Polland | -3 | $20,424 |
| T62 | Antoine Rozner | -3 | $20,424 |
| 64 | Greyson Sigg | -2 | $20,148 |
| T65 | Francesco Molinari | -1 | $19,872 |
| T65 | Matthew Riedel | -1 | $19,872 |
| 67 | Tom Hoge | E | $19,596 |
| 68 | Alejandro Tosti | 2 | $19,412 |
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