PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania (August 5, 2025) – John-Baptiste Hakizimana had given up his dreams of playing professional golf years ago and had settled into a comfortable life as a caddie at Maidstone Golf Club in East Hampton, New York. Approximately five years after rededicating himself to playing professionally, he has finally secured his first victory on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour.
Hakizimana carded a final-round 3-under-par 67 Tuesday to win the second-annual Jefferson Health APGA Classic by four strokes, recording an overall 36-hole score of 10-under 130 at The 1912 Club.
He received a $24,000 winner’s prize, from an $80,000 overall purse (the fifth-largest purse among 2025 APGA Tour events), and 500 Cisco Cup Series points.
Amateur and incoming Temple University junior Matthew Vital finished second at 6-under-par 134, while Luis Gagne, Michael Herrera, Trey Rusthoven, and Jonathan Yoshihiro tied for third at 5-under 135.
“This one means a lot to me,” Hakizimana said. “I have been working so hard and have a great team behind me. Without my sponsors – Worldwide Technology, the APGA and Cisco – I wouldn’t be here. This means a lot to me, but also to all the people who have been supporting me.”
Hakizimana, 35, who began to teach himself golf around age five by hitting stones with tree branches before practicing with partially-broken clubs on the nearby nine-hole golf course he lived next to in his native Rwanda, immigrated to the United States when he was six and turned pro at age 15.
Hakizimana’s best APGA results prior to this week were a pair of second-place finishes – in last week’s APGA Two-Man Classic at TPC Louisiana (with playing partner Troy Taylor II) and in the 2024 Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Years ago, when he had given up playing professionally, he said he had the same dream four times within a one-month span in which Tiger Woods told him to return to the game.
“To come back and win a tournament, it means a lot,” Hakizimana said. “I would tell people and kids that if you have a dream, you cannot give up. Everyone has the tools to make it to the next level – it just depends on how much you want it. When I had those dreams and Tiger spoke to me, I knew it wasn’t a joke.”
Hakizimana set a torrid pace atop the leaderboard in Monday’s first round, shooting a 7-under 63 and holding a two-stroke lead over Yoshihiro. After an uneven start Monday, Hakizimana found his groove and lit up The 1912 Club with seven birdies in his last 11 holes. He made four birdies in a five-hole stretch from holes 8-12 and closed his round with birdies on the par-4 17th and 18th holes.
The Hobe Sound, Florida resident opened his second round by playing the front nine one under par, but a bogey on the 10th and a scorching hot front nine from Vital – who made five birdies without a bogey in his opening nine holes – meant Hakizimana’s lead had evaporated by the time he reached the 12th tee. Yoshihiro played the front in three under par and was threatening as well.
Knowing the pressure was on, Hakizimana recalled the work he had been doing with his sports psychologist and dug deep to birdie the par-5 12th and eagled the par-4 13th, firmly grasping the momentum that would carry him to victory. He also birdied No. 15, and by the time he bogeyed the 17th his lead was secure enough that it didn’t matter.
“My playing partner (Yoshihiro) was playing really well, and when he laid up on 12, I knew I had to go for it,” Hakizimana explained. “I went for it and made a big putt for birdie, and he made a six, and that helped me a lot. Then I put it in on the green on 13 and was hoping to make a 3 but made the putt. All of a sudden, I had a three-shot lead and I felt much more comfortable.”
On No. 12, he hit his driver to 255 yards out and then nestled a hybrid into about 30 feet. He left himself four feet for a comfortable birdie putt.
On the driveable, 275-yard par-4 13th, Hakizimana hit his 3-wood to approximately 30 feet again and then drained the long putt for eagle.
Vital and his twin brother, Michael Vital – 2023 Liberty High School graduates from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and returning juniors to the Temple University men’s golf team – took advantage of tournament exemptions and provided local rooting interest.
Matthew Vital was bidding to become the second amateur tournament winner in APGA Tour history, along with Kieron van Wyk, who won the 2025 APGA Tour’s season-opening Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines. Vital won the Boys 12-13 age division of the 2019 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at Augusta National Golf Club and was the 2023 Pennsylvania State Junior Amateur champion. At age 15, Matthew set the Reading Country Club course record with a 62 in a 2021 Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour event, eclipsing Sam Snead’s 18-hole course record of 63 carded in the 1949 Reading Open.
Michael Vital finished the tournament T39 with a 36-hole score of 7-over 147. Zachary Juhasz, another local golfer from Bethlehem, placed T37 at 6-over 146.
The APGA Tour heads north along Interstate 95 and up the Eastern Seaboard for its 11th tournament of the year, and its 10th event on the Cisco Cup Series, next week at the 54-hole APGA Tour Championship, August 11-14 at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx, New York City. The 2025 season runs through November with 16 tournaments from coast to coast.
About the APGA Tour
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works diligently to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting 16 tournaments awarding more than $1 million in prize and bonus money, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid golfers as they work to chase their professional golf goals.
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