Discharged Bae ‘dying to play golf’

Aaron Wise turned pro six years ago but the impact of the two years he spent at the University of Oregon, where he won the 2016 NCAA title, are still being felt today. The long putter that he’s wielding at the U.S. Open once belonged to his college coach, the former TOUR player Casey Martin. Putting has been a hindrance for Wise, who was the PGA TOUR’s Rookie of the Year four years ago. After finishing 51st in Strokes Gained: Putting during his breakout season of 2018, when he won the AT&T Byron Nelson and qualified for the TOUR Championship, he’s ranked outside the top 170 in that metric in each of the previous three seasons. He hasn’t won on TOUR or qualified for East Lake since, but the long putter he’s using at this week’s U.S. Open appears to have him back on track. Wise, 25, is 30th in the FedExCup after a runner-up finish at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and now in contention at the U.S. Open. He went back to the long putter, which he started using in college, last August. “It was one of those things that I had tried before and I kind of forgot about it,” Wise told PGATOUR.COM in November. “I thought it might be worth a shot.” The switch has paid off, as Wise has four top-10s this season, matching his career-high from that 2018 season. He’s been exactly a TOUR average putter this season – ranking 109th in Strokes Gained: Putting, averaging 0.00 strokes gained per round – but that’s been enough for him to have success after losing strokes on the greens in each of the past three seasons. He is 16th in Strokes Gained: Approach this season. The TaylorMade Ghost putter has a history in the U.S. Open, as Martin used it a decade ago when he qualified for the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. According to Golf.com, the only modification Wise has made to the putter is cutting it down from 49 to 46 inches since the putter can no longer be anchored. Wise only used the putter for a few months in college, but he won with the club and hung onto it after its short stint in his bag came to an end. “I just took his gamer and never gave it back,” Wise told Golf.com. “But he’s OK with it. Hopefully, it gives me some good mojo this week.” So far, it has.

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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO When reviewing where allegiances lie at THE PLAYERS, you may be surprised that the most-owned golfer isn’t the defending champion (Jason Day, 10th overall), the Masters champion and all-time earnings leader at TPC Sawgrass (Sergio Garcia, third) or the FedExCup points leader (Dustin Johnson, second). Instead, it’s Rickie Fowler at 65.0 percent. Yes, Fowler won THE PLAYERS in 2015, but he still garnered more than four times the love of Day this week. So, if you were to cite the apples-to-apples comparison of the last two winners here, you’ll quickly understand that confidence extends beyond that. Yet, what’s most impressive is that Fowler resides No. 1 over the deepest field in golf. Fowler is among nine who populate at least one-third the lineups submitted. This includes tournament debutant Jon Rahm (seventh), who continues to shatter expectations and molds. The exponential devotion for Fowler over Day is one thing, but note that the faith in Hideki Matsuyama in ninth is more than double that of the defending champ’s. Notables who aren’t included in either section below include Phil Mickelson (13th, 9.1 percent), Jason Dufner (18th, 5.6 percent), Kyle Stanley (20th, 5.1 percent) and Henrik Stenson (T24, 3.4 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO Do I or don’t I? That was likely the thought regarding Sergio Garcia when deciding if he’d be your pick for THE PLAYERS. Entering the season, the Spaniard arguably makes the most sense to holster for this tournament. Then he went out and won the Masters. How dare he disrupt the balance of our universe. Still, and not surprisingly, Garcia slots first in shares at 16.2 percent. That feels a little low but only when you ignore the quality and depth of the field. No doubt his cut would be smaller if the Masters was just one or two weeks ago. Certainly the separation since he converted his first major title assuaged our concern in the long-term. Speaking of worry, at least mildly, defending champion Jason Day is 11th overall at 2.7 percent, but that makes sense. It represents both reasonable confidence and the strategy of just allowing him time to heat up and perhaps even connect for victory again. That he’s started 2017 slow only supports my decision to pencil him in for the BMW Championship. Other notables outside the top 10 include Adam Scott (13th, 2.1 percent), Kevin Kisner (14th, 1.7 percent), Francesco Molinari (18th, 1.2 percent), Henrik Stenson (19th, 1.2 percent) and Phil Mickelson (22nd, 0.6 percent).

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