The Punter's De-brief: Longshots claim the spoils on both Tours

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After shooting 59 in round one of the Cognizant Classic, Jake Knapp was still in front with 18 to play and he was still leading after he'd birdied the par five 10^th but having been matched at a low of 2.3411/8 his challenge ended in calamitous fashion at the par four 11^th.

Winning is hard.

Jake Knapp has been leading throughout the week.

This triple bogey moves him from co-leader to T5, 3 back @The_Cognizant. pic.twitter.com/OSU3xg7LpR

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2025

As many as nine of the previous ten winners of the Cognizant Classic had sat first or second with a round to go but Michael Kim, who began the day in second place, one behind Knapp, never really got going on Sunday and he eventually finished alongside Knapp in a tie for sixth.

The 2014 winner, Russell Henley, who had begun round four in tie for third, was matched at a low of 2.56/4 but his challenge fizzled out when he bogeyed the 12^th and he also finished the week in tied sixth.

The only player inside the top seven places with a round to go to break 70 on Sunday was Ben Griffin, who shot 69 to fall from tied third to tied fourth and that opened the door to the chasers.

Having teed off two hours and 20 minutes before the final two-ball, Jacob Bridgeman, who had begun the day tied for 24^th and six off the lead, set the clubhouse target at 17-under-par and once Knapp had messed up at 11, the pre-event 130.0129/1 chance, Joe Highsmith, looked the only man likely to pass Bridgeman on the back-nine.

Matched at 1000.0999/1 in-running, Highsmith had needed to hole a four-and-a-half-foot par putt on the 18^th on Friday just to make the cut and he was still trading at a triple-figure price after he'd shot 64 on Saturday to move up into a tie for eighth.

He started his fourth round steadily (two-under-par through eight) and he never really looked like a danger until he birdied three in-a-row from the ninth to hit the front.

He rattled in another birdie at 13 and the writing was on the wall for everyone when he made this brilliant birdie two at the penultimate hole.

Clutch when he needs it @JoeHighsmith33 with a two-shot lead heading to 18 @The_Cognizant.

NBC pic.twitter.com/XkmuiuFkTr

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2025

He was helped by the leaders all stuttering on Sunday but even so, it was a remarkable comeback given he'd trailed by eight at halfway and his back-to-back 64s over the weekend saw him win his first PGA Tour title by two strokes.

Highsmith was the first winner on the PGA Tour to make the cut on the number since Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open in appalling conditions at Torrey Pines back in 2016.

Naidoo off the mark to make it seven-in-row

Over on the DP World Tour, overnight rain put pay to the fourth round of the South African Open at Durban Country Club so the two men tied at the top through 54-holes, the pre-event second favourite, Laurie Canter, and the pre-event 320.0319/1 chance, Dylan Naidoo, returned to the course for a playoff to determine the winner and the process didn't take long.

Once the market settled down after the announcement that the event would be reduced to 54 holes, Canter was trading at around 1.748/11 and Naidoo 2.3211/8 but after both men hit great drives at the drivable par four 18^th, it was the outsider of the two that seized the initiative.

Chipping up on to the green first, Naidoo hit a wonderful shot to put the pressure on the Englishman and he couldn't respond.

His chip ran past the hole some 15 feet, from where he missed his birdie attempt, and Naidoo holed out for a three to become the seventh South African winner of the event in-a-row.

Listen to those roars!

The moment Dylan Naidoo won his national open #InvestecSAOpen pic.twitter.com/mEbi6eWsZx

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 2, 2025

It was the 25-year-old's first victory on the DP World Tour and I suspect it won't be his last.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter

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