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    Winner's Bag

    The clubs Joe Highsmith used to win the 2025 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches

    By E. Michael Johnson
    March 02, 2025
    2202901145

    Mike Ehrmann

    Joe Highsmith sports a safari-like hat. That was appropriate as he went hunting for his first PGA Tour title at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. Like any good hunter, Highsmith stayed patient and let his “prey” make the mistakes, firing a bogey-free final-round 64 to win after having just made the weekend on the cut number, eight shots back.

    The solid-swinging lefty won in just his 34th start as a pro and did so with a combination that works well at PGA National’s Champion Course—solid driving, a nervy short game and reliable putting.

    Off the tee Highsmith ranked 12th in strokes gained/off-the-tee with his 8-degree Titleist GT3 driver with a HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 6.5 shaft, picking up nearly three shots on the field off the tee.

    Titleist GT3
    $650 | Golf Galaxy
    5.0
    GD SCORE GD HOT LIST SCORE
    Hot List Gold
    $650
    It has a more forward center of gravity compared to the GT2 and works best for golfers with a repeatable impact location looking to maximize ball speed. The weight track is forward in the sole to allow the golfer to dial in the preferred center of gravity for better energy transfer and more directional control. A super lightweight thermoformed polymer piece, which wraps around the crown to meet the sole on the heel and toe sides, helps maintain Titleist’s preferred sound and feel. The lightweight crown piece saves weight so that the center of gravity is slightly forward and lower from past models for increased ball speed and less spin. A slightly raised rear section and smoother lines and curves from crown to sole create better aerodynamics for increased swing-speed potential. A new variable-thickness pattern includes a ring encircling the back perimeter of the face to maximize ball speed. MOI Rating: MODERATE Top 5 in Performance, low- and high-handicaps 8, 9, 10, 11 degrees (with a 16-way adjustable hosel)
    BUY NOW DETAILS

    Highsmith followed up what he termed “the best putting round of my life” on Saturday (when he made 135 feet of putts) with more fine work with his Scotty Cameron by Titleist 009M tour prototype blade putter on Sunday. That included birdie putts of 18 feet at the fourth, another 18-footer at 11 and a 15-footer at 13.

    Highsmith followed that last birdie with a big up-and-down for par from behind the green on 14 with his Titleist Vokey SM10 wedge. The save should come as no surprise as Highsmith routinely engaged in chipping contests as a youngster at Tacoma Country & Golf Club in Washington.

    Titleist Vokey Design SM10
    $190 | Golf Galaxy
    5.0
    GD SCORE GD HOT LIST SCORE
    Hot List Gold
    $190
    To promote a slightly lower, more controllable ball flight, the SM10 line features shorter hosel lengths and a smaller-head profile to create a progressive center of gravity in the 46- through 52-degree lofts. Tour-player feedback resulted in shifting the center of gravity on those lofts slightly closer to the center of the face for a solid feel and to reduce a draw bias. By using longer hosel lengths and thicker toplines in the higher lofts (54 degrees and up), Vokey was able to shift the center of gravity up (for a lower trajectory) and slightly forward, which enables the face to square more easily. Straighter leading edges on the pitching and gap wedges and more rounded leading edges on the sand and lob wedges provide the right amount of flexibility players need to execute a variety of shots. A “spin-milled” cutting process uses a cutter that creates the entire scoreline instead of a partial scoreline. The result is tighter manufacturing tolerances for a more consistent scoreline-edge radius, allowing the grooves to be sharper and closer. Micro-grooves cut between the grooves add spin on partial shots. Top 5 in Performance, all handicaps. 27 options (46-62 degrees), 6 grinds, 3 finishes.
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    Still, he needed to navigate the Bear Trap trio of holes that followed and did so deftly, hitting the green on all three holes and dropping a 21-footer for birdie at 17 that effectively sealed the win. For the week Highsmith ranked seventh in strokes gained/putting and third in putts per GIR.

    The clubs Joe Highsmith used to win the 2025 Cognizant Classic

    Ball: Titleist Pro V1

    Driver: Titleist GT3 (HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 6.5), 8 degrees

    3-wood: Titleist GT3, 15 degrees

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

    Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (46, 50, 54, 58 degrees)

    Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist 009M tour prototype

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