The fall Tour’s breakout stars

8. Aaron Wise

Wise is a 25-year-old South African who hit the Tour after completing his college career at Oregon. He has only one career victory, that coming as a rookie at the 2018 Byron Nelson.

Thanks to three top 10s, Wise won $2 million last season, so he’s no novice. But the start of the 2021-22 season suggests he’s a guy on the rise.

He started five fall Tour events, and although he never contended for a title he also never finished outside the top 26. He tied for fifth at the CJ Cup, for eighth at the Shriners, for 15th at Mayakoba, and for 26th at Houston and the Sanderson.

You can make a living on Tour playing that consistently. You can also make money driving the ball long and straight. That’s something Wise appears to have worked on. Through the fall swing, he ranks seventh in Strokes Gained Off The Tee at 1.39. That’s a healthy upgrade from his 47th ranking (at +0.249) one season ago.

He’s also improved his approach game, although in this case the upgrade is more fractional: from +0.347 to +0.541  Strokes Gained per round.

Again, the improvement is measurable on the scoreboard. He’s carrying a 69.64 stroke average – 11th on Tour – this deep into 2021-22. His 2020-21 average was 70.67, more than a full stroke higher.