Former PGA Tour rookie of the year WDs from Masters due to mental health

Aaron Wise has withdrawn from this year’s Masters, citing mental health concerns. 

Wise, the world’s 45th-ranked player, the 2018 PGA Tour rookie of the year and the 2016 NCAA champion, posted the news to his Instagram story early Friday afternoon. 

“Regretfully I am withdrawing from The Masters today,” Wise wrote. “Golf is just as much a mental game as it is one of physical skill, and the mental piece of it has been a struggle for me recently. I don’t take the significance of playing at Augusta lightly, but know that I need to take some time away to focus on my mental health so I can get back to competing at a level I am proud of.”

Below that statement, he added this on his Instagram story: 

“This hurts, but its [sic] needed. See you all soon [Peace sign emoji] [Heart emoji]”

Wise’s 2023 has been a struggle, though it has followed a season where he qualified for his second Tour Championship, and a fall where he posted three top-25s in four events. Since then, Wise has played seven events and missed five cuts, along with missing weekend play at last week’s WGC-Match Play. 

There, Wise lost his final two matches in group play, but won his first, 1-up over Tom Hoge on Wednesday, on a 15-foot putt on 18. 

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“Yeah, felt like I played well,” Wise said after the win. “I putted amazing, made a lot of putts and made a bunch of birdies and made a few bogeys, and as match play goes, I made no birdies to win, so it worked out.”

Two weeks earlier, disaster struck at the Players Championship, though it still came with a bit of solid play. During Thursday’s first round, he hit three-straight tee shots into the water on the par-4 18th — only to take four strokes after that, card a 10 and avoid the highest-ever score on the hole by a shot. (Andres Stoltz posted an 11 in 2005.)

Wise’s Masters appearance would have been his second. After a win at the 2018 Byron Nelson, he played at Augusta National in 2019 and finished 17th, with rounds of 75, 71, 68 and 67. 

“It’s such a special place,” Wise told the Masters website in 2019. “There are great memories for all of us. We all can remember the great moments and great shots — just from having watched on TV.”