Of course, not all one-under 69s are created equal. Mark Hubbard’s one-under 69 on Thursday? Solid, but forgettable. Three birdies, two bogeys, minimal chaos. Brice Garnett’s one-under 69? A little more eventful. Five birdies, two bogeys, one double bogey. Aaron Wise’s one-under 69? Well, his deserves some sort of award. A triumph.

Wise, one of the pre-tournament favorites, began his round with a bogey at the par-4 10th and then another at the 12th, where his approach found the water for his first of four water balls on the day. A birdie at 13 stopped the bleeding, but he gave it back at the par-3 17th, the final hole of the infamous Bear Trap. A par at the gettable par-5 18th saw him turn in two-over 37.

That’s when it all went a bit mad. Wise’s drive at No. 1 found the water down the left side, and after a drop he hit his third long and right of the green, then promptly chipped in for par. A birdie at No. 2 followed, only for him to give it back at the par-5 third, once again finding the water with his second shot. Another bounce-back birdie ensued at the fourth, only for Wise to miss badly right at the par-3 fifth, which led to him hitting his second shot into the water again, ultimately resulting in a double bogey.

Then, at the par-4 sixth, sitting at three over on his round, Wise found the fairway with his drive and then did this:

A hole-out and a handshake ?@AaronWise_ is all business @TheHondaClassic. pic.twitter.com/JQ21TRaygf

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 23, 2023

The subdued, business-like reaction says it all. Wise had already expended far too much energy on this roller-coaster of a round to that point to truly go crazy.

And he wasn’t done. The former AT&T Byron Nelson winner birdied two of his last three holes to post one-under, which has him inside the top 30 after Round 1.

Last Aaron Wise tweet until he lifts the trophy on Sunday. Here’s his day today.

4 water balls
Hole out par save on 1
Hole out eagle from 179 on 6
-1.47 T2G
-1.85 approach
+2.77 sg putting
105’11” of putts made (w/ two 0 putts!)
5 birds 1 eagle 4 bogs 1 double

Easy little -1

— Chris Murphy (@CS_Murph) February 23, 2023

Good news is Wise should, theoretically, have a much less mentally taxing weekend, because no round is going to be as mentally taxing as that one. Then again, at PGA National, mental warfare is the norm.

The post Take a look at Aaron Wise’s insane round of one under at the Honda Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
As Rickie Fowler continues to search for answers on the course, he also appears to be seeking the right equipment combination to jumpstart his game. We identified some key changes made by players atop the leader board—plus Fowler’s change—at the Honda Classic last week in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Fowler continues to mix it up

Rickie Fowler has shuffled up his bag in a pretty significant way over the past couple of events. At the Players, Fowler changed irons, going from his RF Rev 33 prototype blades to Cobra’s King Forged CBs in his 5-iron through pitching wedge, in addition to using the company’s AMP Cell Pro CB 4-iron and a Cobra King F9 4-iron more as a utility iron. According to Cobra, Fowler felt the irons, which had more offset, would help him with his start line.

At the Honda Classic, Fowler switched up the driver, too, changing to a Cobra Radspeed XB Palm Tree Crew edition driver. The XB head has a higher moment of inertia, making it a touch more stable. “Typically, Rickie hasn’t liked that feeling,” said Ben Schomin, PGA Tour rep for Cobra. “But so far his misses have been a little tighter.” Fowler, who has been known to apply generous amounts of lead tape to certain clubs, did so with this driver as well, adding weight up front and to the sides on the sole of the driver.

RELATED: Rickie Fowler responds to Nick Faldo’s Masters/commercial dig

Fowler made the cut at PGA National, but a third-round 78 sent him way down the leader board. He finished T-65.

A couple of Wise decisions

Jared C. Tilton

Aaron Wise shook up the long and short end of his bag, putting in a 9-degree TaylorMade SIM2 driver with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 6X shaft and an Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas mallet putter at the Honda Classic. Both moves worked well as Wise got off to a fast start before settling for a T-13 finish.

The putter, in particular, was working well in the early rounds. Wise, who ranked T-4 for the week in putts per green in regulation, made an impressive 230 feet of putts during the first 36 holes, leading to rounds of 64-64.

“We have been working on things for a while, and the stroke felt really good,” Wise said after the second round. “Obviously, the putter change might have just clicked it into the next gear. But overall, my technique’s felt good for a while. It was just finding a putter that suited my eye and I felt comfortable with and so far, it’s been working great.”

RELATED: Aaron Wise’s shocking three-putt from three feet on Sunday at PGA National

McCarthy’s driver switch

Jared C. Tilton

Denny McCarthy got our attention with a hole-in-one at the Players, but his T-3 finish at the Honda Classic was more lucrative. McCarthy made a driver change at PGA National, opting to go to a 10.5-degree Titleist TS2 with a Fujikura Ventus shaft, giving his TSi3 a break for now.

For the week the move worked. McCarthy hit 73.21 percent of his fairways (41 of 56) to rank T-7 for the week—an important stat to do well on given the number of water hazards on the Champion course, where finding fairways is key to success.

The post Rickie Fowler’s search for answers includes significant equipment changes appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Matt Jones’ first PGA Tour victory at the 2014 Houston Open, which featured a long birdie on the 72nd hole and a chip-in birdie in a playoff, was always going to be an impossible one to top. But, in a number of ways, the Aussie managed to eclipse it this week with win No. 2 at the Honda Classic.

First, he opened with a course-record tying 61 on Thursday, which gave him a three-shot lead. Then, he overcame deficits of three and six shots over the next two rounds, earning himself a three-shot lead heading into the final round. On Sunday, even after his lead shrunk to one, and even after he bricked a two-footer for par at the 14th, Jones still managed to slam the door and run away with it late, his most clutch birdie coming at the difficult par-4 16th.

And with all that, his most impressive feat might have been keeping his cheetah-like pace throughout the final round despite playing alongside J.B. Holmes, whose pace could be described as snail-like. It was not a good match for Jones, who wastes absolutely no time when he addresses the golf ball:

<5 seconds from address to impact. There are fast players, really fast players, and then there’s @mattjonesgolf. pic.twitter.com/aNZNNe2onh

— Skratch (@Skratch) March 21, 2021

Aspirational stuff, especially for those of us who stand over the ball a little too long as we struggle to break 80. Jones, meanwhile, tied the course record on Thursday and then went 70-69-68 by simply pointing and shooting. It’s not fair.

To be able to stick to that strategy, on a golf course like PGA National, in the final round, with the lead, made this second career win that much sweeter than the first for the 40-year-old Jones.

“I’ve had some tough times between that [2014 Houston Open] and now,” said Jones. “Been an emotional seven years. I just worked hard, had some tough times putting, worked hard with my coach back in Australia. It’s finally paid off.

“It was probably the calmest I’ve been for a golf tournament for four straight days . You can’t get a tougher course to win on, in these conditions, so to be able to do that on this golf course is amazing and something I can build on for the future.”

That future will now include Jones’ first trip to the Masters since … yep, you guessed it, 2014. This win will also go a long way in potentially getting him into the Tour Championship, an event he’s never reached in his entire career (he went from 60th to 11th in the FedEx Cup standings Sunday). If we want to look way down the line, perhaps Jones can allow himself to begin thinking about the 2022 Presidents Cup, which would be his first should he make the team. OK, too soon, but the fact it’s even in the discussion makes this the biggest day of Jones’ career to date.

Three other takeaways from Sunday at PGA National:

Jared C. Tilton
Brandon Hagy plays his shot from the ninth tee during the final round of the Honda Classic.

Brandon Hagy comes up huge
Speaking of career-altering days, Brandon Hagy had one himself thanks to a clutch four-under 66, a 10-shot improvement from Saturday for the former Cal Bear. Despite hitting it a mile and possessing plenty of talent, Hagy has not done much on the PGA Tour, with injuries and inconsistent play both to blame. He’s begun to show signs of turning the corner in 2021, though, and Sunday’s solo second, his career-best finish, is the most promising sign yet. Amazingly, it shouldn’t have even happened, as Hagy was the sixth alternate. Thanks to a number of withdraws, the 29-year-old got in, flew to Florida on Tuesday and didn’t even play a practice round.

“I got in at 11 [p.m.], got to my hotel at midnight, 12:30,” Hagy said. “The PGA Rules woke me up that—Commitments woke me up at 9 o’clock saying I was in the field. I was actually still sleeping. So that was kind of what happened.”

Essentially, Hagy went from not playing to finishing runner-up and vaulting 100 spots in the FedEx Cup standings, which puts him in prime position to get to the playoffs. This game works in very mysterious ways.

“It’s been an interesting couple years,” Hagy said. “Technically I lost my card last year, but still having an opportunity to play out here this year [because the season was extended due to the pandemic]. This is a good week for me to set up the rest of the season. I feel like I made some good adjustments that I applied this week and I look forward to putting them into play the rest of the season.”

Cliff Hawkins
Aaron Wise reacts while four-putting on the 10th green in the Honda Classic.

Aaron Wise’s nightmare weekend
Coming into the week, Aaron Wise ranked 216th on tour in strokes-gained/putting, a large part of the reason he’s managed just one top-10 this season. That was a runner-up finish at Mayakoba, and the rest of his strokes-gained statistics would indicate that the former Byron Nelson winner was close to another breakthrough.

Thanks to a hot putter, Hagy shot 64-64 the first two rounds, and then made a pair of early birdies on Saturday to take a six-shot lead. The ball game was over, no matter how hard PGA National was playing.

Turns out, it was not even close to over, especially when Wise’s putter went completely cold. His six-shot lead on Saturday vanished in a matter of hours, and even when he was able to claw his way back in it Sunday he ejected again with a shocking four-putt at the 10th hole. It was an absolute nightmare of a weekend for the former Oregon Duck, as he wound up falling into a tie for 13th. But it’s clear he still has potential to be mentioned among the tour’s many young stars despite the putter-shaped asterisk in his bag.

Cliff Hawkins
Rickie Fowler waves after finishing the final round of the Honda Classic.

Rickie Fowler is not making it into the Masters
Some may say we’re calling it too soon, some might say we’re calling it too late, and others might say we’re kicking a man while he’s down. All are valid opinions, but the sad fact is Rickie Fowler’s game does not belong anywhere near Augusta National right now, and there are no signs pointing to him winning his way in at the Valero Texas Open. Yes, he made the cut this week, but then went 78-71 to finish in second-to-last, meaning he’s gone dead last (Bay Hill), MC (Players) and T-65 in his last three starts. He’s not in the Match Play, so he’d have to win the Valero to not miss the Masters for a first time in a decade. Our sincere, heartfelt apologies, but we don’t see it happening.

The post Matt Jones sprints his way to victory (literally), Hagy comes up huge and Wise’s nightmare weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
On Saturday, Aaron Wise’s tumble down the Honda Classic leaderboard was more of a slow, gradual burn. On Sunday, his fall lasted all of 30 seconds, and it seemingly cost him the tournament.

Wise, who led by as many as six shots on Saturday, trailed Matt Jones by three when he began the final round of the Honda Classic. Three straight birdies at the third, fourth and fifth holes at PGA National got him right back in the mix, and he was able to make the turn in 32, pulling within one of Jones’ lead.

But things took an ugly turn at the 10th, where Wise found a greenside bunker and blasted his third shot to 27 feet. His par putt rolled three feet past the hole, leaving him with a knee-knocker for bogey. He missed, then missed the tap-in from less than three feet for double on the way back. Four putts. Woof:

4 putts from 27 feet for Aaron Wise.

A triple bogey opens up a 4-shot lead for Matt Jones. pic.twitter.com/70x8gOGDBP

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 21, 2021

In less than a minute, Jones’ one-shot lead grew to four, and he didn’t even need to hit a shot for that to happen.

Luckily for Wise, a lot can happen on the back nine at PGA National. Not sure if you guys heard, but there’s this fun little stretch of holes called “The Bear Trap,” where disaster looms. As Wise himself has shown a few times this weekend, no lead is safe on this course.

The post Aaron Wise shockingly three-putts from three feet, throws away chance to win Honda Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
PEBBLE BEACH — There are many who believe Aaron Wise has a bright future on the PGA Tour. Just 22, he already has a victory to his credit (2018 AT&T Byron Nelson) and a mentor in four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who describes the former NCAA champion from the University of Oregon as “super talented”

Still, anyone (Koepka included) who would have predicted that Wise would shoot an opening five-under 66 at Pebble Beach to sit one stroke off the first-round lead at the U.S. Open in the process, is either lying, a member of Wise’s immediate family, or both.

Why so surprising? Consider the fact that in Wise’s two previous U.S. Open starts, 2016 at Oakmont and 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, the Southern California native missed the cut both times. And his scores in his four rounds have been ugly: 74-76-77-74.

Then there’s how his 2018-’19 has played out so far. In 16 starts, Wise has just one top-10 finish and ranks 101st on the FedEx Cup points list. In his title defence last month at the Byron Nelson, he finished T-43, followed with a T-41 at the PGA Championship and then missed cuts at Memorial and the RBC Canadian Open. It’s not the kind of momentum you’d like to be carrying into the year’s third major.

Yet despite starting with a bogey on Pebble’s opening hole, the par-4 10th which finished the day as the most difficult, Wise didn’t get rattled. He birdied six of his next 12 holes and made pars on his last five to post his second-best score of the season and the second lowest score of any player in the field with an afternoon tee time.

“Honestly, I just wanted to play well,” Wise said. “And I didn’t know what that was going to be for me. Obviously, the U.S. Open changes venues every year, and you just don’t know what that course—if it’s going to fit you well, if it’s not.”

Unexpectedly, it was Wise’s putter that did the heavy lifting. He finished the day with a 4.33 in strokes-gained/putting, ranking him second best for the day. By comparison, during the 2018-’19 season, Wise has -.360 mark, ranking him 176th.

“That’s kind of what’s been missing this whole year for me in a way,” Wise said. “And today I was able to putt well. These are greens I’m kind of accustomed to being from Southern California. And felt like the ball-striking part’s always been there. It was nice to see some putts drop and it added up to a great score.”

Wise played a practice round at Pebble on Tuesday with Koepka, the two-time defending U.S. Open champion, something he’s done more of in 2019. The ability to pick the brain of a man who’’s major record is among the game’s best has been something Wise has found helpful, even if it hasn’t resulted in immediate dividends in results.

“Maybe just some strategy stuff I can take from him,” Wise said. “And on top of maybe just a strategy, something I can take away from him is just his calmness, not only just playing in those practice rounds but I’ve seen him multiple times through the events like today when I was on 17 tee he was on 4 tee. And just saying, hey. And he’s literally the calmest person in the world. It’s just a calming influence and I can kind of just take away his mentality towards these, and the fact that he really slows things down and calms things down even more and that works well for him.”

Wisely, Wise didn’t want to overplay his Thursday performance, noting things can change drastically at a major. But he is optimistic that he can reset his game and salvage the season with a good performance this week.

“I haven’t had exactly the best year yet that I wanted to,” Wise said. “But we still have two majors left and a WGC event and a playoff. So it’s kind of been a learning curve for me with this shortened schedule realizing that there are still some big events ahead of me.”

Including the one he’s leading after 18 holes.

The post U.S. Open 2019: Aaron Wise had easily the most unexpected round of Day 1 at Pebble Beach appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
After becoming the only PGA Tour rookie to earn a spot in this year’s Tour Championship, Aaron Wise used the opportunity to start preparing for next season. Rather than fly home to Las Vegas to spend a rare opening in the schedule, the 22-year-old spent the week getting his first look at TPC Sawgrass in advance of his first appearance in the Players. Way, way in advance.

Even with the tour’s flagship event moving up in the calendar, it’s still not until mid-March. But Wise’s scouting trip some six months out shows he’s nowhere near content when it comes to improving.

“My goals are always progressing,” Wise told GolfDigest.com.

And now he can check off another goal on his to-do list. On Tuesday, Wise was announced as the recipient of the 2017-18 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award.

“I’m just excited to be able to get the award,” Wise said. “And I played well at the end of the year, so I feel like I earned it.”

RELATED: 11 PGA Tour sleepers to watch for in 2018-19

During his first season on the PGA Tour, Wise finished 24th in the final FedEx Cup standings and won the AT&T Byron Nelson. But he says his biggest thrill may have come two weeks before when he battled Jason Day down the stretch at the Wells Fargo Championship.

“It was pretty surreal,” Wise said. “That was my first time having a chance to win a PGA Tour event. To to be playing such a tough closing stretch with one of the game’s greats just going head to head and to pull off some of the shots I did, that’s where a lot of my confidence built. . . . Just knowing that I could do that was a big help for the rest of the season.”

Wise also fondly recalled taking videos of the scene at East Lake as Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship. And he knows what he’s working on most ensure he gets back to Atlanta.

“This year it’s going to be more focusing on the short game,” said Wise, who ranked 96th in strokes gained: around-the-green. “Converting birdies on par 5s and getting the ball up and down to save shots will be the key for me.”

Although the tour doesn’t release vote totals, Wise was selected for the honor over fellow rookie winners Austin Cook and Satoshi Kodaira, as well as Keith Mitchell and Joaquin Niemann. PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 FedExCup events during the 2017-18 season were eligible to vote in the balloting process ended on October 1.

After winning the NCAA Championship at Oregon and turning pro in 2016, Wise won on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada later that year. He won on the Web.com Tour in 2017 before winning on the PGA Tour in 2018 to become the second golfer to win on all three tours. His next big goals, though, start with wearing the red, white and blue.

“Getting into some of those team events would be really cool. I was once really close to making the Ryder Cup team after I was playing really well there,” said Wise, who will start this season with a home game at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. “To watch them on TV really got me energized. I want to be out there too on those teams playing for my country,” Wise said.

But to do that, Wise will need to be more steady. Although he had 10 top 25s and four top 10s this season, he also missed 13 cuts in 29 starts.

“Hopefully, I can have all the same highs,” Wise said, “but with a little less of the lows.”

The post Aaron Wise wins PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, is more than ready for his second season to get underway appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Luke Kerr-Dineen
If you’ve played enough golf, you’ve probably come across a similar story: A tour pro graces your home course and rattles-off a ridiculously low round with ease. I grew up hearing about Fred Funk, then stuck in the no-man’s land between 45 years old and the Champions Tour-eligible 50, shooting a 62 on my home course on his first visit. A friend of mine recently told me a similar tale involving Fred Couples carding a 59 on a visit to his home course, taking impossibly difficult lines off certain tees.

Who knows if those stories are real—perhaps they’re just legend. But I’m reminded of them every year during U.S. Open sectional qualifying when a host of seemingly struggling pros cruise through “golf’s longest day” with relative ease. It’s just another reminder that these guys are, dare I say, good. So much so that the top-tier players don’t even need to be in great form to shoot great scores at non-PGA Tour events.

Here’s what I mean …

Andrew (Beef) Johnston
England’s beloved Beef has been serving up a game that’s been pretty raw this year—just two top-10s in European Tour starts and none since March. And yet Johnston looked entirely comfortable finishing tied for medalist honors at the deeply competitive Walton Heath qualifying site outside London. Following a missed cut and a T-42 in his previous two starts, Johnston shot 10 under in his two rounds on Monday, marking the third straight year he has made it through qualifying.

[divider] [/divider]

Cameron Wilson
The 25-year-old qualified for the U.S. Open in 2012 while at Stanford, and then capped his collegiate career by winning the NCAA individual title in 2014. Since turning professional, however, the lefty has struggled finding his way. Last year, he missed 10 of 21 cuts on the Web.com Tour and finished inside the top 25 just three times. This year? He’ll be fitting the U.S. Open into his mini tour schedule after shooting 69-66 in his New Jersey qualifier.

Copyright USGA/Michael Cohen

[divider] [/divider]

Adam Scott
Scott’s terrible putting has dogging his performance all year on the PGA Tour, and it almost cost him his streak of 67-straight major starts. Forced to playing in sectional qualifying for the first time in 17 years, Scott made hard work of it, grabbing one of the last spots on the number at the Columbus, Ohio, qualifier. In truth, it was always in his hands: Scott was inside the cutoff line midway through the back nine only to slip outside, before then playing his way back inside.

[divider] [/divider]

Russell Knox
Like Scott, Knox qualified via the deep Columbus, Ohio, qualifier and, like Scott, Knox has struggled to perform this year. He has just three top-10s in 20 PGA Tour tournaments this season dating back to last October, but wound up finishing seven under to book his spot at Shinnecock Hills.

Copyright USGA/Fred Vuich

[divider] [/divider]

Aaron Wise
Wise won the AT&T Byron Nelson just last month, so it’s hard to poke at the quality of his game. Still, since the victory he has had a bit of a hangover, missing the cut in his next two starts. It wasn’t exactly U.S. Open qualifying form, but no matter. Wise’s two rounds totaling seven under was enough to qualify him on the number.

[divider] [/divider]

Eric Axley
The 44-year-old won in a rain-shortened Web.com Tour event in April, but hasn’t been doing much of nothing ever since: MC, MC, T-58, T-59 in his last four starts isn’t pretty on the eye, but he managed to shoot a seven under in Memphis, then make an eagle in a playoff to get into his first Open since 2010.

Copyright USGA/John Gress

[divider] [/divider]

Sam Burns
And finally in the “these guys are on another level” files: Burns has been spending most of 2018 using sponsor’s exemptions to chase his PGA Tour card and, to his credit, has generally played quite well. That was until the Memorial, though, where his third-round 81 resulted in a MDF. Bad news, with the U.S. Open qualifier next week? Nope: Burns shot 62-65 to collect medalist honors at the Memphis qualifier by five shots.

The post For more proof tour pros are even better than you think they are, check out these U.S. Open sectional qualifiers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This comes as no surprise to one man who could see Wise’s victory in the AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday coming from more than a mile away, from 1,600 miles away, as it were, even from two years away.

Casey Martin, Wise’s college coach at the University of Oregon, was at home in Eugene on Sunday watching the inevitability unfold on television.

“When you look back at the spring of his sophomore year [2016], he was toe to toe with Jon Rahm,” Martin said. “They were One-A and One-B. You see what Jon’s doing, and if Jon can do it, Aaron can do it, too.”

Rahm, two years older than Wise, took the express to No. 2 in the World Ranking and won for the first time on the PGA Tour, the Farmers Insurance Open, at 22.

Wise is only 21, the latest in the youth assault on the tour and a winner in only his 18th event of his rookie season. He entered final-round play at Trinity Forest Golf Club tied with Marc Leishman, shot 65 and won by three only two weeks after tying for second in the Wells Fargo Championship. He should be a senior at Oregon, had he not turned professional in 2016 after winning the NCAA individual title at the end of his sophomore season.

Related: Rookie Aaron Wise earns first PGA Tour victory in 26th career start

He was guided by an even keel that presents an inscrutable aura, revealing nothing about how his day might be going. Only a small fist-pump following a par-saving putt on the front suggested he had a pulse.

“Aaron has a lot of self belief,” Martin said. “He’s extremely mature for his age, very poised. He’s just very emotionally stable on the golf course. Nothing phases him, good or bad. It’s a good trait to have to be successful.

“There are so many ups and downs in golf, but he’s always in control of his emotions. He looks like he’s doing what he loves to do. He doesn’t freak out. And obviously, he’s got the shots.”

He’s had them for a while. Wise won five times at Oregon, including the NCAA individual title in 2016. After he turned pro, he won on the Mackenzie Tour-Canada that year and the Web.com Tour the next.

“He was special the day he showed up on campus,” Martin said. “The guy just knows how to win.”

Even a four-hour weather delay was unable to unnerve him. Wise played a bogey-free round. He birdied six of his first 10 holes to open a four-stroke lead, then unflappably parred his way to the trophy presentation for a 65.

“I felt like when it rained today I was really going to tear the course up just because it allowed me to hit driver, which is my strength,” he said. “I hit the ball incredible all week long and it got better as the week went on. That was fun for me to see. It continued today. I absolutely striped it. Hit it incredible.

“I had a talk with my putter there on three a little bit, because I missed a couple chances early. ‘You need to cooperate for me.’ It got red hot in the middle of that round and kind of shot me off to a huge lead.”

Liftoff, would be a more accurate description, for a man headed toward a possible future among the stars.

The post Aaron Wise’s victory preordained? ‘The guy just knows how to win’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Before he registered a career-best T-2 finish earlier this month at the Wells Fargo Championship, Aaron Wise said his “time was going to come eventually” in regards to a victory. Little did he know it would come in his very next start just two weeks later.

Despite a four-hour rain delay, Wise left no doubt on Sunday at Trinity Forest Golf Club, carding a bogey-free six-under 65 to win the AT&T Byron Nelson by three strokes over Marc Leishman. It was Wise’s first career PGA Tour win, and it comes in just his 26th start.

“It’s awesome, I get to plan my schedule, this is huge for me,” said Wise, who at 21 became the youngest winner on tour since Si Woo Kim won the 2017 Players Championship. “The majors, getting up there in the FedEx Cup, definitely in the playoffs now. It’s huge, it’s a dream come true to win this one.”

While the T-2 at Quail Hollow followed by this victory may seem like a surprise, it’s not to those who have followed Wise’s quick rise to this position. He’s won at every level he’s competed in, including taking the NCAA individual crown in 2016, the 2015 Pacific Amateur, and racking up wins on both the Mackenzie and Web.com Tours. Those experiences, plus a close call at the Wells Fargo, came in handy on Sunday in Dallas despite the fact that he would be a senior at Oregon this spring if he hadn’t turned pro after his sophomore year.

“Just a ton of self belief. It was always there, but to do it on a stage, to know I’ve done it really helped me today,” Wise said. “I felt oddly calm all day long and to pull that off and play as good as I did today, bogey free, it was awesome.

“I was more nervous yesterday, oddly enough. It’s pretty incredible to get this win.”

With the win, Wise earns a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour as well as an invitation to next year’s Masters.

Leishman shot a final-round three-under 68, one that included an eagle at the par-4 fifth and four birdies. But bogeys at the second, 10th and 15th holes wound up being the difference. It’s his sixth finish of ninth or better this season, and his second solo runner-up, the first coming in October when he lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges.

Branden Grace posted a nine-under 62 that featured an eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-par stretch to finish his round and put him in a tie for third with J.J. Spaun and Keith Mitchell at 19-under 265. Ryan Blaum, Kevin Na and Jimmy Walker tied for sixth at 16-under 268.

The post Rookie Aaron Wise earns first PGA Tour victory in 26th career start at Trinity Forest appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
After two days of low scores at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the wind picked up late Saturday afternoon in Dallas, making the third round a grind for those at the top of the leader board. Trinity Forest Golf Club yielded just two rounds lower than four under, and none from the top 10.

Luckily for Marc Leishman and Aaron Wise, they had given themselves a cushion with their stellar play on Thursday and Friday and didn’t need anything spectacular on Saturday. Leishman’s two-under 69 and Wise’s three-under 68 puts them in a tie at 17-under 196, four shots clear of the field, setting up for a Sunday showdown between the 34-year-old veteran and the PGA Tour rookie.

Leishman’s start was a shaky one, as he made just his second bogey of the week at the par-3 second to drop into a tie for the lead. But the big Aussie settled in from there, making three birdies and 13 pars to put himself at the top of the leader board for the third straight day.

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“Very different conditions today,” said Leishman. “The course is firming up, a lot windier and a different situation, few more people out there today. So, really happy with the way I fought back today after a pretty slow start.”

If Leishman is able to close out his fourth career PGA Tour victory on Sunday, and his third in the last 14 months, the putter will have played a key role. For the week he ranks first in strokes-gained/putting, a statistic he ranked 125th in on tour entering the event.

“If you’re not making the putts, whether it’s par or birdie putts, from 10 or 12 feet you’re probably not going to win. Aaron’s playing great, putting well. I have to just do my best tomorrow. Hopefully I can play good and we’ll see how we end up.”

Tom Pennington

If not for a bogey at the 18th, Wise would have held the solo lead thanks to back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th holes. Still, it’s his first career 54-hole lead of any kind, and he has a chance to earn his first win in just his 26th start on the PGA Tour. He came close to pulling off the feat just two weeks ago, ultimately finishing in a tie for second at the Wells Fargo.

“Going out today I almost felt like I had expectations,” said Wise. “Which is crazy, because I’ve only been there once before. I felt like I expected a little bit more out of myself. I think I put a little too much pressure on myself early. I turned in two under, which I thought was a little bad, because the front nine is what you need to get around here, but taking that aside I felt like I did great on the back nine.”

While Wise has a tall task as he faces one of the more underrated players in the world on Sunday, a final-round 68 at Quail Hollow earlier this month was a enough to prove to himself he can get the job done.

“Just knowing that I’ve been there, and that I’ve played well. That was a really cool setting around Quail Hollow with so many people, and for me to perform and play as well as I did down the stretch, just a lot of confidence it gives me going into tomorrow.

“The pressure will be the same, and now that I’ve been there I think I’ll have a better chance at it.”

Four back at 13-under 200 are Kevin Na and Matt Jones, who has just one top 25 this season and has not registered a top 10 on tour since September of 2015. Na, who entered the week having missed three of his last four cuts, is looking for his second career win on tour, the first coming at the 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Jimmy Walker and Brian Gay are tied for fifth at 12-under 201.

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