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Aaron Wise has withdrawn from this year’s Masters, citing mental health concerns.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, particularly following a 2022 season in which 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 the weekend at last week’s WGC-Match Play. 

Wise won his first match in Austin 1-up over Tom Hoge on Wednesday, but lost his final two matches in group play to fall out of the event.

“Yeah, felt like I played well,” Wise said after defeating Hoagie. “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 — carding a 10 and narrowly avoiding the highest-ever score on the hole. (Andres Stoltz posted an 11 in 2005.)

Wise’s Masters appearance would have been his second. After a win at the 2018 Bryson 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.”

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.