AT&T Byron Nelson
Dallas, TX
Making his tournament debut and in fading daylight, overnight co-leader and PGA TOUR rookie Aaron Wise tossed up a bogey-free, 6-under-par 31-34=65 in the final round on Sunday at Trinity Forest Golf Club to reach 23-under 261, good for a three-shot win over playing competitor Marc Leishman (68) and his first PGA TOUR title in 26 events.
The 21-year-old, a pre-tourney 40/1 outright, wins in his 18th start of the season and his first time as a 54-hole leader/co-leader. His co-lead after R3 was his first lead/co-lead after any round.
Branden Grace (62), J.J. Spaun (63) and rookie Keith Mitchell (63) shared 3rd-place, four adrift. Matt Jones, who began T3 and four back, completed the final threesome and faded to T13 with even-par 71.
Note: The start of the final round was delayed FOUR HOURS due to storms in the area. The course received 0.50 inches of rain. That, along with light winds, created a scoring fest.
This was the first Nelson at Trinity Forest, 22 miles to the south and east of the previous venue TPC Four Seasons (Irving, TX), which had hosted 24 times previous, including solo host between 2008-17. Trinity Forest is the new permanent home for the event.
Wise’s KEY Stats for the Week (ranking of 75):
SG: Approach: 5.99 (1st)
SG: Tee-to-Green: 11.17 (1st)
Greens in Regulation: 66/72 (1st) at 91.67%
Par-4 Scoring: 3.73 (1st)
Total Birdies: (T2)
SG: Off-the Tee: 4.60 (2nd)
Wise, who arrived off a T2 at the Wells Fargo, striped all 14 fairways and pelted 17 greens in regulation, gaining 1.58 strokes off-the-tee, 0.29 strokes approaching-the-green, and 2.70 strokes tee-to-green.
He went out in 5-under, circling holes 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, building a two-shot lead at the break, and crossed the finish line with a sixth birdie (fourth straight) at 10 and eight consecutive pars. The Las Vegas resident’s split featured three conversions from between 10 and 18 feet, posting 1.706 putts per GIR and 0.55 SG: Putting with 30 total putts.
For the week, the South African-born American, who moved to the U.S when he was three, tallied one eagle and 25 birdies against four bogeys.
With the win, he earns a two-year exemption on TOUR and a host of goodies, including invites to the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone, 2018 PGA Championship, and the 2019 Masters, all debuts in those respective tournaments.
Wise jumps 33 places to 66th in OWGR and 38 spots to 18th in the FedExCup standings, both career highs.
Season Form: 1-2-MC-MC-32-41-68-33-MC
FUN FACT: Wise is the 18th straight winner this season with either 0 or 1 week off prior to their wins. In total, 24 (of 29) event winners fall into this category. #NoLongLayoffsPlease
Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):
1- Aaron Wise (40/1)
2- Marc Leishman (20/1)
T3- Branden Grace (16/1)
T3- J.J. Spaun (150/1)
T3- Keith Mitchell (66/1)
FUN FACT: Wise’s 261 ties the lowest winning aggregate of the season with fellow rookie Austin Cook (RSM).
Wise, the NCAA Individual and Team champion in 2016 while at Oregon, owns three professional wins at the tender age of 21 years, 10 months, 29 days. He’s now won one tournament in each of the past three years and is one of two players to win on the PGA TOUR, Web.com Tour and Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, joining Mackenzie Hughes. #Impressive
Breakdown of Wise’s Wins:
2018: AT&T Byron Nelson (as 54-hole co-leader)
2017: Air Capital Classic (Web) in Wichita, Kansas (wire-to-wire)
2016: Syncrude Oil County Championship in Edmonton, AB, Canada (as 54-hole co-leader)
Note: All of his wins were as 54-hole leader/co-leader #Closer
Field Scoring Average:
Yardage: 7,380
Par: 71 (36-35)
Cumulative scoring averages:
R1: 69.56
R2: 69.19
R3: 70.73
R4: 68.25
Total: 69.42
Wise: 65-63-68-65 for 16.74 SG: Total
Wise’s Position by Round:
R1: T4
R2: 2
R3: T1
Leader/co-leaders by Round:
R1: Marc Leishman (finished 2nd): Drops to 1-for-5 as 18-hole leader/co-leader
R2: Marc Leishman: Drops to 1-for-5 as 36-hole leader/co-leader
R3: Marc Leishman: Drops to 1-for-3 as 54-hole leader/co-leader
R3: Aaron Wise (Won): Improves to 1-for-1 as 54-hole leader/co-leader
Note: Leishman is tied for the TOUR lead this season (w/ Beau Hossler) for the most leads/co-leads after ANY round (6) without a win.
Draw:
A total of 75 pros from a field of 155 pros and 1 amateur made the 36-hole cut of 4-under 138:
33 (of 77) EARLY/late; 1 WD (Murray)
42 (of 77) LATE/early; 1 DQ (Barnes)
11 players finished in the top 10:
EARLY/late (5):
Aaron Wise (Won); Branden Grace (T3); Keith Mitchell (T3); Kevin Na (T6); Charles Howell III (T6)
LATE/early (6):
Marc Leishman (2nd); J.J. Spaun (T3); Ryan Blaum (T6); Jimmy Walker (T6); Adam Scott (T9); Kevin Tway (T9)
Note: Dating to 2013, Wise is the SIXTH straight EARLY/late winner of the Byron Nelson.
17
17 (of 29) tourneys this season with a traditional draw:
Winners:
EARLY/late: 10 (Wise)
LATE/early: 7
Low Rounds:
R1: 61: Marc Leishman; course record, career low
R2: 62: Brian Gay; tied career low
R3: 65: Charles Howell III
R4: 62: Branden Grace; tied career low
Bogey-free Rounds:
R1: (9): Marc Leishman (61); Jimmy Walker (64); Keith Mitchell (65); Ethan Tracy (65); Rory Sabbatini (66); Ryan Blaum (66); Dominic Bozzelli (67); Joel Dahmen (67); Andrew Putnam (68)
R2: (13): Aaron Wise (63); Hideki Matsuyama (63); Eric Axley (65); Kevin Na (65); Adam Scott (65); Kevin Tway (65); Michael Thompson (65); Scott Piercy (66); Steve Wheatcroft (67); Beau Hossler (68); Billy Horschel (69); Charles Howell III (69); Rory Sabbatini (70)
R3: (1): Charles Howell III (65)
R4: (12): J.J. Spaun (63); Keith Mitchell (63); Fabian Gomez (64); Nate Lashley (64); Robert Streb (64); Aaron Wise (65); Adam Scott (65); Ethan Tracy (67); Robert Garrigus (67); Brian Stuard (67); Kevin Na (68); Abraham Ancer (69
Multiple Bogey-free Rounds:
Mitchell (x2); Na (x2); Howell III (x2); Scott (x2); Sabbatini (x2)
Picking a Winner:
Through 29 events (30 winners) this season:
9 winners were in their 20s (Wise: age 21)
16 were in their 30s
5 were in their 40s
Note: Wise ends a streak of five straight winners in their 30s that had dated to Kodaira (age: 28) at RBC Heritage.
18
18 (of 30) winners had a top-25 finish the start prior (60.0%):
Wise? Yes: T2 (Wells Fargo)
10
10 (of 30) winners had a top-10 finish the start prior (33.3%)
Wise? Yes: T2 (Wells Fargo)
Note: Wise is the first winner with a top-10 finish in the start prior to their win since Reed went T9, Match Play; Win, Masters.
54/1
Average winner’s pre-tourney odds outright (rounded). Last 10:
Wise: 40/1 (Byron Nelson)
Simpson: 66/1 (PLAYERS)
Day: 20/1 (Wells Fargo)
Horschel/Piercy: 40/1 (Zurich)
Landry: 125/1 (VTO)
Kodaira: 200/1 (Heritage)
Reed: 50/1 (Masters)
Poulter: 66/1 (Houston Open)
Watson: 50/1 (WGC-Match Play)
Garnett: 50/1 (Corales)
