It’s been a good run for Joe Highsmith, both in real life and on the tabletop. He recently tied for eighth place at the PGA Championship, which I believe is the best-ever finish by a Wave at a men’s major. Here in History Maker Golf, he became the tour’s first two-time winner, and he went back-to-back after winning this one on his home course of Chambers Bay Golf Course in Washington.
Only two Waves finished below-par on this difficult course, with Highsmith shooting a 4-under 206 to finish three shots better than William Mouw.
Highsmith opened the day with a three-shot lead over Mouw, but it was tied after nine holes, and Joshua McCarthy and Clay Feagler were just a shot back. After going 2-over on the front nine, Highsmith posted four birdies and no miscues on the back nine to pull away. Highsmith, Mouw and McCarthy all shot 2-under 68s in the final round.
Highsmith is the runaway leader on the season scoring chart at 67.78 strokes per round. He’s followed by Feagler (68.44), Mouw (68.56) and Sahith Theegala (68.61).
Pepperdine Golf Tour Home Page
Leaderboard: 1. Joe Highsmith 206 (72-66-68); 2. William Mouw 209 (73-68-68); T3. RJ Manke 210 (74-70-66); T3. Joshua McCarthy 210 (73-69-68); 5. Sahith Theegala 212 (72-73-67); 6. Clay Feagler 213 (68-74-71); 7. Austin Murphy 214 (71-74-69); T8. Derek Hitchner 215 (68-74-73); T8. Andrew Putnam 215 (72-70-73); T10. Frederick Wedel 216 (71-76-69); T10. Kevin DeHuff 216 (73-71-72); T12. Josh Anderson 220 (74-72-74); T12. Joey Vrzich 220 (69-73-78); T14. Cody McManus 223 (72-79-72); T14. Roy Cootes 223 (69-75-79); 16. Johnny Mac Arthur 227 (75-74-78).
- Highsmith continued his run of finishing in the top five at all six events this season.
- After winning at Los Angeles County Club, Mouw has posted three straight second-place finishes.
- Manke shot a final-round 4-under 66 — which included birdies on 16, 17 and 18 — to go from a tie for eighth to a tie for third, his fourth top-three finish.
- Round three played a little easier than round two (the average dropped from 72.4 to 71.6). Seven Waves shot under-par in round three (there were only seven under-par rounds combined in rounds one and two). There were three eagles today: Manke and McCarthy on the par-5 eighth hole and Anderson on the par-4 10th hole.
- The average score on the par-70 course was 71.85 for the tournament. The +1.85 difference was the highest of the season.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 