After depression nearly drove him from golf, Aaron Wise is finding his way back

BLAINE, Minn. — Aaron Wise’s Instagram bio says, “Truly blessed to be able to do what I do.”

But for a time, being a professional golfer and playing the game that he loved was the last thing he wanted to do. Suffering from depression, he withdrew from the 2023 Masters. 

“That one killed me. But part of me knew I couldn’t play there if that makes sense. The pressure I felt to go there and play at even a remotely normal level left me wanting to put the clubs away. I knew there was no way I could go there and shoot a respectable score around that place. I didn’t want to go there and feel that,” he said on Wednesday ahead of the 3M Open. “It was one of the hardest things to do but also the start of it all and getting back to feeling like myself, so, I’m happy I did it.”

He returned a month later, finishing T-50 at the AT&T Byron Nelson before missing three straight cuts, including the PGA Championship and U.S. Open but then took an extended mental health break. Wise, who was a college star at Oregon, a PGA Tour winner at the age of 21 and 2018 Rookie of the Year, is mounting a comeback after prioritizing his mental health. 

Wise, 30, had made the 2022 Tour Championship, finishing among the top 30, that season but that fall he could tell something was off; he couldn’t figure out what it was but it began “snowballing” and he remembers not wanting to go dinner with his wife and mother-in-law during the WGC Match Play.  

“I just kept trying to go with the old adage of going to push through it, I'm going to try harder, I'm going to keep working harder at it,” he said. “When things are going south and you're working harder and harder and as hard as you can, like I think that all just snowballed into me being in a very bad place and not happy with what I was doing.” 

About four, five months after he took his Tour hiatus, he met Dr. Izzy Justice, a neuroscientist who helped him make sense of what he was experiencing.

“He was the first person who kind of sat down and explained to me like what you're feeling isn't just random, it's a culmination of what you're doing off the course, things that have happened in your life, what's happened on the course. This is kind of where your brain is and this is why you feel the way you feel and this is why you have the thoughts you're having. He was the first person that kind of simplified all that and made it make sense to me,” Wise recalled.

They developed a plan that in simple terms aimed at clearing his mind. It was a lengthy process and even three months before he started his comeback, he didn’t know if a return was possible.

“When I first came back I didn't even know if I could play at a high level anymore. You shoot the scores at home but you don't know how it's going to translate out here,” he said. 

At first, he could make the shots and shoot the scores when he played by himself but once he began playing with other golfers, he struggled again. His comeback has hit a few bumps. After playing in the 2024 Puerto Rico Open, he withdrew the following week at the Valspar Championship after the pro-am.

“That day ruined me and I withdrew. I'm like, I can't do this anymore, this is crazy,” he said. 

Wise came back last season and made one cut in seven starts. He has made strides but admits playing the Tour is a daily battle for him. He missed the cut at the first six events he played this season. He could’ve been deflated but rather he was eager to try to figure out what was holding him back. The most frustrating part, he said, was that he only got two competitive rounds before being sent packing. He wanted more opportunities to plot a course to getting better. There have been baby steps, beginning with one good round at the Myrtle Beach Classic, a 67, but he ballooned to a 79 and another missed cut. Then he worked at putting two good rounds together and then a third. He was lurking heading into the final round of the John Deere Classic but struggled to 1-over 72 on Sunday and finished T-39. But one week later, he played in the final group at the Isco Championship, marking the his first time in the last group since the 2022 Memorial Tournament, where he finished second. Wise shot 69 and finished T-3, and last week he was T-15 at the Puntacana Championship.

“It’s been a long process to figure out how to have a clear head over the golf ball,” he said. “What we do is very stressful. To have to be on for as long as we are, for five, six, seven hours out here every day. Then especially when you start stacking weeks and weeks. Like this is my fourth week in a row now and I'm going to play all the way through, so I've got six (tournaments in a row). 

“The days are stressful, so how do you then calm yourself down? How do you even deal with the stress as the day's going on? Keeping your mind in a good frame to where you feel like you can go keep hitting good shots and keep playing well, and on top of it, enjoying it. Even though it's stressful, we're supposed to like being out here. We started playing golf because we love the game. Kind of keep that at the forefront even when, hey, you may hit a bad shot in a very high pressure moment, like it's not the end of the world, you know?” 

He concedes that dealing with stress has become more manageable but he's still a work in progress. That's why his wife, Reagan, is the glue in his support team. She made headlines when she cheeked him after running out to the green to celebrate his lone win in Dallas back when they were still dating. She has been his caddie since his return to the Tour. She’s been there every step of the way and the person best capable of keeping him calm. 

“She's someone that I can turn to and however I'm feeling, whatever thoughts I'm having, whatever I'm going through, I can just be 100 percent truthful and honest with her and we can kind of work through whatever comes up together,” he said. “I feel like having someone on my bag that knows what I've been through and knows how to calm my brain down is way more important for me than someone right now who can help me pull the right club if that makes sense.” 

Golf is as much a mental game as it is one of physical skill. Wise is in a better place to play the game he’s loved since he was a kid, and he also wants to use his experience figuring out the mental puzzle for himself to help others who may be struggling with mental health. It’s been a long process but at long last his Instagram bio rings true again: he feels blessed to be a professional golfer and to tee it up this week at the 3M Open.

Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: After depression nearly drove him from golf, Aaron Wise is finding his way back