Written by Rob Bolton

The week after a career-defining performance by a breakthrough champion in his second season with a PGA TOUR card, it happened again, this time courtesy of Joe Highsmith at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. In posting 19-under 265 on PGA National’s Champion Course, Highsmith prevailed by two strokes and established the tournament course record in the aggregate and in relation to par. (PGA National converted to a par 71 from a par 70 in 2024.)

Brian Campbell emerged in a playoff at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld last Sunday. He’s back in the big leagues after a seven-season hiatus since his rookie campaign of 2016-17. The right-hander is 31 years of age. Highsmith is just 24, stands on the other side of the ball and had a successful membership debut in 2024 en route to retaining his card. But they now share titles as PGA TOUR winners.

Like Campbell, Highsmith adds starts in all of the remaining Signature Events beginning with this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. He’s also punched tickets into the Masters and the PGA Championship, as well as the 2026 edition of The Sentry.

Although Highsmith stumbled out of the gates in 2025, he was consistently strong to post T17 in Mexico, so that’s probably why he was “only” +12000 to take the title in the opener of the Florida Swing. By comparison, Campbell was +25000 with his pre-tournament odds at FanDuel last week.

While fortunate investors are counting their coin, Highsmith’s hauls include 500 FedExCup points and $1,656,000. And because it always matters how one navigates “The Bear Trap,” Highsmith’s aggregate score of 2-under on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 aligns with the expectation for the champion. But his arc on the way to victory is better framed by the fact that he survived the 36-hole cut on the number and then signed for a pair of 7-under 64s on the weekend, good for the low round on both days.

Jacob Bridgeman (+11000) also closed with 64 to finish in a two-way T2 with J.J. Spaun (+4500).

Jake Knapp got the party started with a 12-under 59 on Thursday. While he paid off bettors on board with him as the first-round leader, he also gave tickets showing him at +9000 to win the tournament some juice. He kept the rally rolling with outright leads after the second and third rounds, but a clumsy 72 on Sunday bumped him into a three-way T6.

Jake Knapp cards costly triple bogey from the water at Cognizant Classic

Tournament favorite Shane Lowry (+2000) checked up at T11.

In his tournament debut, Jordan Spieth (+4500) finished T9. Campbell (+9000) was T48. And in his first title defense on the PGA TOUR, Austin Eckroat (+5000) missed the cut by four strokes.

NOTE: Points and Payouts cites pre-tournament odds to win at FanDuel for all golfers who made the cut. For live odds, visit.

POSITIONGOLFER (ODDS TO WIN)SCOREFEDEXCUP POINTSEARNINGS1Joe Highsmith (+12000)265 / -19500.000$1,656,000.00T2Jacob Bridgeman (+11000)267 / -17245.000$818,800.00T2J.J. Spaun (+4500)267 / -17245.000$818,800.00T4Max McGreevy (+15000)268 / -16122.500$414,000.00T4Ben Griffin (+4500)268 / -16122.500$414,000.00T6Russell Henley (+2200)269 / -1591.667$310,500.00T6Jake Knapp (+9000)269 / -1591.667$310,500.00T6Michael Kim (+5000)269 / -1591.667$310,500.00T9Erik van Rooyen (+11000)270 / -1477.500$259,900.00T9Jordan Spieth (+4500)270 / -1477.500$259,900.00T11Max Greyserman (+5000)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Shane Lowry (+2000)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Min Woo Lee (+3300)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Andrew Putnam (+17000)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Brice Garnett (+30000)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Sepp Straka (+2800)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T11Doug Ghim (+10000)271 / -1358.714$184,985.71T18Matti Schmid (+20000)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T18Luke Clanton – a (+5500)272 / -12n/a (non-member)n/a (amateur)T18Alex Smalley (+5000)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T18Nicolai Højgaard (+5500)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T18Victor Perez (+15000)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T18Patrick Rodgers (+5500)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T18Rickie Fowler (+5500)272 / -1243.000$117,606.67T25Niklas Norgaard (+7000)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Charley Hoffman (+17000)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Rico Hoey (+17000)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Billy Horschel (+5500)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Ryan Gerard (+8000)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Daniel Berger (+2800)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T25Taylor Montgomery (+50000)273 / -1131.000$73,271.43T32Beau Hossler (+7000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Quade Cummins (+17000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Jesper Svensson (+12000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Chan Kim (+11000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Vince Whaley (+20000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Brian Harman (+6500)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T32Joel Dahmen (+12000)274 / -1021.214$52,637.14T39Michael Thorbjornsen (+11000)275 / -916.000$41,860.00T39Isaiah Salinda (+11000)275 / -916.000$41,860.00T39Karl Vilips (+27000)275 / -916.000$41,860.00T42Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+7000)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T42Taylor Moore (+5500)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T42Keith Mitchell (+4000)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T42Jackson Suber (+17000)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T42Zach Johnson (+27000)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T42Matthieu Pavon (+27000)276 / -811.750$33,580.00T48Davis Riley (+50000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Sami Välimäki (+50000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Denny McCarthy (+4000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Sam Ryder (+12000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Matt McCarty (+20000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Patrick Fishburn (+15000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Brian Campbell (+9000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T48Rikuya Hoshino (+35000)277 / -77.750$23,805.00T56Chris Kirk (+7500)278 / -65.400$21,252.00T56Bud Cauley (+7500)278 / -65.400$21,252.00T56Matt Kuchar (+12000)278 / -65.400$21,252.00T56Ricky Castillo (+20000)278 / -65.400$21,252.00T56Kris Ventura (+15000)278 / -65.400$21,252.0061Jhonattan Vegas (+6000)280 / -44.800$20,700.00T62Ben Polland (+100000)281 / -3n/a (non-member)$20,424.00T62Antoine Rozner (+12000)281 / -34.500$20,424.0064Greyson Sigg (+10000)282 / -24.200$20,148.00T65Francesco Molinari (+40000)283 / -13.900$19,872.00T65Matthew Riedel (+100000)283 / -13.900$19,872.0067Tom Hoge (+15000)284 / E3.600$19,596.0068Alejandro Tosti (+17000)286 / 23.400$19,412.00

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