Winning approach: Aaron Wise improves iron play to take home PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year

Aaron Wise could be forgiven for thinking it would be easy.

He turned pro after winning the NCAA title as an Oregon sophomore. He made his pro debut in a major, the U.S. Open, and won two starts later, on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. A year later, he won on the Web.com Tour to earn his PGA TOUR card. He was just 21.

“I thought I could walk out here,” Wise said. “You quickly realize how good these players are.”

By late April, he stood 105th in the FedExCup standings. Forget the TOUR Championship or postseason awards. Just keeping his card was an uncertainty.

Then things dramatically changed. He challenged Jason Day on the back nine of the Wells Fargo Championship, forcing the former World No. 1 to birdie 16 and 17 for a two-shot win. Wise won in his next start, with an impressive ball-striking display at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Those finishes vaulted him into contention for the Rookie of the Year Award. A strong finish clinched the award for the Californian. Playing against the strong fields that assemble for the TOUR’s season-ending events, Wise finished in the top 20 in four of his last six starts.

He accepted the Rookie of the Year Award Tuesday in Las Vegas, his adopted hometown since turning pro and the site of his 2018-19 debut. The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be Wise’s first start since the TOUR Championship.

He was one of three rookies to win last season, along with Satoshi Kodaira (RBC Heritage) and Austin Cook (The RSM Classic), but was the only one to make it to East Lake. He added his name to an elite list by doing so at such an early age.

Wise, 22, was the fifth-youngest to ever qualify for the elite, 30-man field. Only Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Si Woo Kim made it at an earlier age. Wise finished 24th in the FedExCup standings to fulfill a goal he set at the start of his rookie season.

“It seemed pretty seamless, but it’s been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of tough times,” Wise said at this year’s TOUR Championship. “Times like this make it all worth it.”

His early success belies meager beginnings. He was 3 years old when his family moved to Southern California from South Africa. The exchange rate decimated the family’s savings.

“My parents did well to keep food on the table,” Aaron said. “We didn’t have much.”

His mother, Karla, used to buy oversized shoes for Aaron to extend the time between purchases. He still wears a size 10.5 today even though his feet are a 9.5. The proper size felt too constricting to feet accustomed to more space.

“Being put in tough situations where I knew other people were getting better opportunities to succeed, it made me have to believe in myself,” Wise said. “I think it’s why I play so well under pressure. I believe in myself.”

Instead of being disheartened by a slow start to his rookie season, Wise committed himself to getting better.

“He doesn’t panic,” said his college coach, Casey Martin. “Emotionally, he’s very mature. He’s confident in his own skin.”

Wise knew that his iron game had to improve. His driver and putter have long been his strengths, but he was making too many bogeys from the middle of the fairway.

“I just wasn’t very good at it when I got out here,” he said. “With the way they tuck the pins out here and as firm and fast as the greens are, you can’t get up-and-down all the time.”

His improved iron play quickly paid dividends.

He hit 66 of 72 greens in his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the most by a TOUR winner since 1997. Wise also led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, proving that his stats weren’t simply the result of the oversized fairways and greens at Trinity Forest.

In the FedExCup Playoffs, only five players hit a higher percentage of greens in regulation than Wise (75.7 percent). He was one of just 12 players with at least three top-20 finishes in the four Playoffs events.

Wise also overcame the unforeseen circumstances that come from traveling week-in and week-out. One such surprise struck just days after the Nelson, while he was still basking in the afterglow of his first victory.

In a span of a few days, he cracked two drivers at the Fort Worth Invitational. Without a third-string driver ready, he struggled to find one that he could trust in competition. That contributed to five straight missed cuts after his victory. Wise deemed it a frustrating “rookie mistake.”

“The driver has always been a strength of my game,” said Wise, who ranked 27th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season. “As soon as I lost that, I felt like I wasn’t in position to make good scores on holes.”

It wasn’t until a two-week break before the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational that he could take the time to do in-depth driver testing. He quickly found success after finding a driver that fit.

He finished sixth at tree-lined Firestone Country Club, then challenged Bryson DeChambeau at THE NORTHERN TRUST before finishing fifth. Wise closed the season with a T16 at the BMW Championship and T15 at the TOUR Championship. His 68.8 scoring average in the Playoffs was the second-best ever by a rookie.

“It’s been a year of ups and downs,” Wise said. “The highs have been amazing, but there have been some lows. To finish it on a good note was a point of emphasis.”

And now he starts his sophomore campaign by hoisting a trophy.