Young Wise keeps his head in game after first Tour win
Forgive Aaron Wise if he hasn’t had time to go full party-mode or allowed himself to let his first PGA Tour title sink in ahead of the Fort Worth Invitational at historic Colonial Country Club.
He’s been too busy getting ready to win his second title.
Wise, a month shy of his 22nd birthday, won his first PGA Tour title in last weekend’s AT&T Byron Nelson behind a tour de force display of maturity, composure and ball-striking. At treeless Trinity Forest Golf Club just south of Dallas, he closed with a 6-under-par 65 to finish at a tournament-record 23 under to overcome a four-hour rain delay and runner-up Marc Leishman by three strokes.
The win came two weeks after he finished in a tie for second, two shots shy of Jason Day, in the Wells Fargo Championship.
It also was Wise’s latest victorious ascension up professional golf ’s ladder. After he won the 2016 individual NCAA championship and helped the Oregon Ducks to the team title, he won on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada that year, then won on the Web.com Tour last year.
Wise became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour this season and the second youngest to win the Byron Nelson, bested only by Tiger Woods.
Wise also is the latest youthful stamp on the PGA Tour as 20-somethings have won the last four majors (Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed) and the FedExCup (Thomas).
“It’s been kind of crazy for me,” said Wise, who has broken par in each of his last eight rounds and has risen from No.
223 in the world rankings at the end of last year to No. 66. “Obviously, I’m playing great and I want that to continue. Between dealing with all the media and trying to prepare and get my game ready, I haven’t had much time to really sit down and think about it.”
Instead, his mind is on the famous
7,209-yard, par-70 layout where Ben Hogan won this tournament five times. And he’s thinking about the stacked field including Spieth, Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Adam Scott and defending champion Kevin Kisner.
Wise played Colonial for the first time Tuesday, touring all 18 holes, and played nine more Wednesday during the proam, gathering reconnaissance each step of the way with his caddie. He’s already learned you can be successful by being aggressive off the tee with a driver in hand on the tight, tree-lined track or by being conservative off the tee and relying on mid- to short-irons and your short game.
“Those are the two ways to play this course. I think that’s why you can see everyone can win out here,” Wise said. “I’m trying to get a bearing of it. It’s totally different to last week. Last week was bomb and gouge, and this week is very position golf. It’s a ton of work for me just because all these guys have played these courses for so many years and I’m trying to learn them on the fly.
“But it keeps me sharp because I have to play a lot of holes; I have to really put in the time. I can’t kind of do it in a half way. I need to go all in if I want to play well in these tournaments. It’s cool coming from a course like last week to this week because that’s literally completely opposite. “I really enjoy it.”
That, for now, is the best way to enjoy his first Tour title.