Curry’s golf goals: Get off 1st tee, make cut

DALLAS – The graduation ceremony for the Class of 2014 at Santiago High School was held four years ago at the school stadium in Corona, California. Specifically on May 28. Aaron Wise was part of that class, having successfully completed his final exams days earlier. Now he’s on the verge of another life-changing moment, this one with more significance — at least for his chosen profession. He’s just 21 years old. By Sunday night, he could be a PGA TOUR winner. “That’s the one thing that people can say that still blows my mind,â€� Wise said. “It’s pretty unreal to think where I was at in high school, way back – and to even say way back, it’s only four years ago. “I feel like it’s such a different part of my life, and to think it’s only four years ago is pretty crazy.â€� Maybe it’s not all that crazy to think that Wise could be the latest TOUR winner. Of course, he’ll have to get past Marc Leishman, his 54-hole co-leader at the AT&T Byron Nelson. They’re each at 17 under and share a four-stroke advantage over the rest of the field. In the tournament’s rich history, just four players have rallied to win by four strokes in the final round. Neither player, of course, is suggesting it’s a two-man race at Trinity Forest. With winds expected to die down for the final round, someone in the chase group could make a big move. “I showed Thursday you can shoot a low one,â€� Leishman said, referencing his 10-under 61. But the strapping Australian and the lithe American clearly have one hand each on the new 50th anniversary trophy. The 34-year-old Leishman, seeking his fourth TOUR win, is building an impressive resume. Wise, meanwhile, is just ready to build on his T2 finish two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship. “I heard this morning he’s only 21,â€� Leishman said. “I didn’t realize that. I guess I was in high school before he was born, so that’s – I don’t know. You hear guys talk about that all the time, but I’ve never said that, I think.â€� With two consecutive starts in which he’s contended, Wise figures he’s ahead of the career curve. “Absolutely,â€� he said. “I’m way ahead of the curve. It’s pretty hard to do what I’ve done at such a young age. Only a few have done it … I feel like I’m in a great spot for tomorrow, and yeah, I feel like I’m getting some great experience for a kid this young. It’s only going to serve me well down the road.â€� What might serve him well on Sunday is the success he’s already achieved at previous levels. He’s pretty much won at each of them. In January of 2016, he played the Australian Master of the Amateurs; it was the first time he felt like the favorite entering a tournament, and he ended up winning. The victory would eventually spark his decision to turn pro. “I just played incredible in college kind of starting my sophomore year,â€� Wise said. “Everyone was kind of looking at me to win this big event and I went out there with all that pressure and I won … “I went back to college … and kind of told Casey [Martin, the Oregon golf coach] I was probably going to leave after that year before I felt like I was playing great. That tournament alone gave me so much confidence, knowing that I could win even though everyone’s expectations were that highly of me. But before doing so, he completed his final semester at Oregon – and that May, won the individual and team portions with the Ducks. He became the first player since UCLA’s Kevin Chappell in 2008 to win both titles in the same year. After turning pro, he played on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and posted his first professional win among his seven starts. That got him to the Web.com Tour in 2017 – and he posted another win there among his 16 starts, gaining status on the PGA TOUR for this season. It seems inevitable that he’ll soon win at this level. He almost did it at Wells Fargo – he entered the final round three-shots behind leader Jason Day and shot a final-round 68 to share second with Nick Watney, as Day won by two strokes. Making his 18th start of the season this week, maybe now is the time for Wise. “Winning is winning at any level,â€� Wise said. “… It’s golf, at the end of the day. If you play better than everyone else, you’re going to win. That’s why I play it. That’s why I love this sport, and tomorrow is nothing different. “There’s a little more pressure on it because there’s more people and it’s a bigger scene, but I felt like I did a great job of handling all that at Quail Hollow. Being my second chance at it, I feel like it’s only going to be better than that. I feel like it’s a great opportunity. It will obviously be a huge day for me.â€� When Wise entered college, he thought about a backup plan in case the golf thing didn’t work out, eventually focusing on law. Maybe he could become a defense attorney. After all, his favorite TV show was a legal drama called “Suits.â€� But he was having too much fun playing golf. Plus, he was winning. “I’m living my dream right now,â€� Wise said. “I don’t really think about what it could have been because that was kind a Plan B. This is definitely Plan A for me.â€� Four years removed from high school, the plan seems to be working just fine.

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Rory McIlroy’s win at last week’s RBC Canadian Open included a rare mid-tournament equipment switch. It was the latest edition of a battle between two 3-woods for a spot in his bag. He started the RBC Canadian Open with TaylorMade’s SIM Ti 3-wood before switching to the new Stealth 3-wood over the weekend at St. George’s. The Stealth will remain in his bag at The Country Club, he told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday. Since the Wells Fargo Championship in May, when McIlroy first switched into TaylorMade’s new Stealth fairway wood, he’s been switching back and forth between his old flame and his new one, carrying both options on a weekly basis. “I (used) the SIM (in Canada), I just didn’t hit it much last week,” McIlroy told GolfWRX on Wednesday. “There was honestly no real need for a 3-wood last week, just with the yardage. …I actually have the Stealth this week. SIM is almost like a 2-wood. It’s very low spinning. It’s pretty hot. It’s always been a hot head. … I can get high 170 ball speed out of it and carry it over 300 yards. …There wasn’t really much opportunity to hit it last week. It was either lay way back with a 5-wood or an iron, or hit driver. But some weeks, like Memorial, where 310 yards is a really good distance off the tee; it’s good for weeks like that. And this week is a little similar to last week. It’s either you lay back quite a lot with a 5-wood, or you get it up there with a driver. So, there’s just no need for it.” As a quick refresher, TaylorMade’s SIM Ti (Titanium) fairway woods hit retail in February 2020, and McIlroy has been using the 3-wood off and on ever since. The TaylorMade Stealth fairway woods, on the other hand, hit retail more recently in January 2022. This is far from the usual ‘old versus new’ dilemma, though. McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open Champion, switches between the options because he uses them for different purposes, and they fly different distances. Based on course setup and his plan of attack come competition time on Thursday each week, he must choose between the two options, since there’s only room for one in his 14-club setup. He travels with both clubs to keep his options open. “The Stealth, I carry 285 to 290. It’s a little weaker, a little spinnier, sort of more just to get it in play,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday. “The SIM is a little hotter, a little lower spin, sort of get it out there a little more. … (The Stealth is) a little more workable. A little more spin. A little more in control. That SIM 3-wood I spin it at like 2,600-2,700 rpm. It’s like a mini driver.” According to a TaylorMade representative, although both of McIlroy’s 3-woods have “15 degrees” listed on their heads, McIlroy’s SIM Ti 3-wood measures out at 13 degrees of loft, whereas his Stealth has 13.75 degrees of actual loft. While most of the focus has been on McIlroy’s 3-woods, McIlroy said it’s his TaylorMade Stealth Plus 5-wood that will get the most use among his fairway woods. “There’s a few opportunities to hit drivers here, but I think it’s just so important to get it in the fairway,” McIlroy told GolfWRX. “I can carry the 5 wood 270-275 in the air off the tee. With how fast these fairways are, it rolls out to 290 or whatever. …I’ll hit 3-wood maybe a couple times, but the 5-wood is probably just a better club for quite a few holes here.” While McIlroy’s SIM Ti and Stealth 3-woods are busy battling it out for a place in the starting lineup, it seems the Stealth Plus 5-wood is really the one doing the hard work as he looks to win his second U.S. Open and fifth major.

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