Who is Joe Highsmith? All you need to know about the PGA Tour rookie tied for lead at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open
Joe Highsmith became the talk of the town after taking the lead at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open. The tournament's opening round was suspended on March 7, but following the semi-finished game, Highsmith took the lead in a tie with Scott Piercy.
Joe Highsmith is a professional American golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He earned his status to compete on the Tour by finishing in the top 30 in the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour point list.
Highsmith was born and raised in Lakewood, Washington, and graduated from Pepperdine University. He embarked on his professional journey in 2022. However, so far, he has not won any tournament.
Joe Highsmith recorded excellent finishes playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. He finished 18th on the Korn Ferry Tour points in 2023, which helped him earn his PGA Tour card.
Before starting his PGA Tour career in 2024, Highsmith played at the 2021 US Open but missed the cut. He also played at the 2022 Barracuda Championship but again failed to make the cut.
He started the 2024 PGA Tour season at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year, but again missed the cut. However, despite earlier setbacks, Highsmith managed to make the cut at the 2024 The American Express tournament and ended up tied for 34th place. He shot four rounds of 66, 69, 65 and 70.
He was also fortunate to make the cut at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open and recorded his best finish on the PGA Tour so far. He settled for a tie for 33rd position at the event but then missed the cut at the Mexico Open and Cognizant Classic.
A quick recap of Joe Highsmith's performance at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open
Highsmith started his game with a birdie on the first hole at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open on Thursday, March 7. He played a bogey-free round at the tournament with seven birdies.
After making a birdie on the first hole, he added another on the third hole, followed by a birdie on the fifth. He added another birdie on the seventh hole and three birdies on the back nine to score 7 under 65.
Speaking about his open-round performance, Highsmith said (via Golf Week):
“I think today was a lot of progress on the mental side. I felt like this year I just haven’t done a great job kind of just focusing and being like clear on what I’m trying to do out there. It’s been easy to get distracted with a lot of stuff out here.”
The tournament's first round was suspended on Thursday and is set to resume at 6:20 a.m. ET on Friday, March 8. Several golfers still need to complete their games. The tournament is scheduled to have its finale on Sunday, March 10.