Aaron Wise was once one of the fastest-rising young stars in American golf. Then, just days before the 2023 Masters, he stepped away from the game entirely. This week, the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year finally explained why he left — and what slowly brought him back.
In comments shared by the PGA Tour and reported across outlets including golf.com and Newsweek, Wise opened up about nearly two years lost to a mental health struggle that made competing feel impossible. His candor is a rare window into a side of professional golf that trophies and leaderboards never show.
What Happened
Wise’s talent was never in question. He was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2018 and won the AT&T Byron Nelson that same season, announcing himself as one of the most promising ball-strikers of his generation. But behind the results, the game had become a source of dread rather than joy.
In 2023, Wise withdrew from the Masters just days before the tournament began, citing his mental health. As he later put it, he had reached a point where it was “harmful for me to be out here and playing.” He played only four more events that year, made a single PGA Tour start in 2024, and appeared in just 12 combined PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events in 2025. For a player of his caliber, it was a near-total disappearance.
“I just didn’t feel like myself,” Wise said of that stretch. “I was in a really, really bad place.” Rather than force his way through it, he chose to step back completely — a decision that, in the results-obsessed world of professional golf, took real courage.
The signs of a genuine comeback have arrived in 2026. His seventh PGA Tour start of the season produced his first made cut of the year at the John Deere Classic. Then, at the ISCO Championship in Louisville, Wise played his way into Sunday’s final pairing alongside veteran Lucas Glover, ultimately falling just one shot short of a playoff. The fire, he says, is returning: “Now I feel like I’m in a spot where I am enjoying the challenge.”
Why It Matters
Golf is often described as the loneliest sport. There are no teammates on the course, no substitutions, and hours of silence between shots that leave a player alone with their own thoughts. That solitude can magnify pressure and self-criticism in ways few outsiders appreciate, and it makes Wise’s honesty unusually valuable.
By naming what he went through, Wise joins a small but growing group of professional athletes who have treated mental health as seriously as a physical injury. His story reframes a two-year absence not as a lapse in commitment, but as recovery — the same way a golfer might rehab a back or a wrist. That shift in framing matters for a sport that has historically prized stoicism over vulnerability.
There is a competitive lesson here too. Wise’s return to contention shows that the mental side of golf is not a soft add-on to the physical game — it is often the deciding factor. A player with elite ball-striking still could not compete when his mind was not in the right place, and he only rediscovered his level once he addressed that first.
What This Means For You
You will never play a Masters, but the psychology Wise describes shows up on every municipal course on a Saturday morning. The pressure of a first-tee shot in front of strangers, the spiral after a blow-up hole, the round that stops being fun — these are amateur versions of the same forces that sidelined a Tour winner.
The most practical takeaway is that enjoyment is a skill, not a byproduct. Wise did not return because he found a swing fix; he returned because he rebuilt his relationship with the game. Amateurs can do the same by managing expectations, focusing on process over score, and learning to reset after bad shots. If nerves are your main obstacle, our guide on how to handle pressure on the golf course breaks down concrete techniques for staying calm when it counts.
Confidence, like Wise’s, is also something you can build deliberately rather than wait to arrive. Our mental game guide to building confidence on the course walks through how to trust your swing under pressure. And because a repeatable routine is one of the best ways to quiet a busy mind over the ball, it is worth learning to build a consistent pre-shot routine that gives you something to focus on other than the outcome.
Above all, Wise’s story is a reminder that stepping back is sometimes the fastest way forward. Whether you are grinding through a slump or simply not enjoying your golf, permission to pause — without guilt — can be the thing that reignites the spark.
Key Takeaways
- Aaron Wise, the 2018 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, withdrew from the 2023 Masters and largely disappeared from golf for nearly two years to focus on his mental health.
- He has publicly described being “in a really, really bad place” and choosing to step away rather than force his way through.
- His 2026 comeback is gaining momentum: a first made cut of the year at the John Deere Classic and a Sunday final pairing at the ISCO Championship, one shot shy of a playoff.
- Wise’s story underlines that the mental game can matter as much as ball-striking — for Tour pros and weekend players alike.
- For amateurs, the lesson is to treat enjoyment and confidence as skills to build, and to give yourself permission to reset.
This article touches on mental health. If you or someone you know is struggling, consider reaching out to a mental health professional or a trusted person for support.
