Bookies had him a $1000 chance to win. He just secured $2.6m in biggest comeback in a decade

On Saturday morning (AEDT), Joe Highsmith holed a nervy 5-foot putt for par to make the cut at the Cognizant Classic right on the number.

Two days later, he completed the biggest comeback the PGA Tour had seen in nearly a decade to clinch his maiden victory by two strokes at PGA National.

Highsmith rallied from a four-shot final-round deficit with three straight birdies around the turn before a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th all but clinched it.

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After he finished his round, he had to wait more than half an hour for the final groups to finish before his win was official. He pocketed $2.6m - more than he had made in his entire career since turning pro in 2022.

“Winning was the last thing on my mind,” Highsmith said.

“It's incredible to come out on top. I played probably the best round of my life.”

Ahead of the third round, an awful warm up left Highsmith's confidence shot. His mum had even booked a flight for Sunday afternoon, thinking her son would be done by lunchtime.

But he somehow stitched together a stunning third round to give himself an outside chance, and she changed her travel plans. She was on hand to watch him lift the trophy.

"I hit it horribly on the range and putted OK on the practice tee," Highsmith said.

"But I felt like it kind of forced me to focus once the round started because I felt like I was going to hit it out-of-bounds on every hole.

"It turned into one of my best rounds."

Highsmith had a little help from Jake Knapp, who opened the tournament with a 59 and held it together until he made a nightmare triple bogey on the back nine to fall out of contention.

Knapp, trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in tournament history, had a one-shot lead when his second shot on the par-4 11th came up short and into the water.

With half of the ball submerged, he tried to blast it out and watched hopelessly as 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 chipped onto the green, two-putted for a 7 and tumbled from the lead to a tie for fifth. Knapp didn't make another birdie the rest of the way, closed with a 72 and tied for sixth along with Michael Kim (71), who played with him in the final group.

Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016.

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 he played in 14-under 128. His big run started with a wedge to 3 feet on the 9th. He two-putted for birdie on the par-5 10th and rolled in an 18-foot birdie on the 11th.

He added a 15-foot birdie putt at the 13th to take control, and 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's triumph in the Mexico Open. The win locks him into the Masters and PGA Championship, as well as the remaining five signature events, starting next week at Bay Hill.

"Did you say the Masters?" he said.

"I went last year to the tournament just as a spectator because any chance that I can get to walk out there, I'm going to take advantage of that.

"But to be playing in that tournament is going to be very special and, obviously, something you work towards your whole life.

"But you never really know when you're going to get that chance."

- with Damien McCartney