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Masters 2023: Aaron Wise withdraws from the Masters to 'focus on mental health'

March 31, 2023
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Mike Mulholland

Aaron Wise has withdrawn from the 2023 Masters to focus on his mental health.

The PGA Tour winner made the surprise announcement via Instagram on Friday.

"Regretfully I am withdrawing from the Masters today," Wise wrote in a statement. "Golf is just as much a mental game as it is one of physical skill, and the mental piece of it has been a struggle for me recently. I don't take the significance of playing at Augusta lightly, but know that I need to take some time away to focus on my mental health so I can get back to competing at a level I am proud of."

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Wise won the NCAA individual championship in 2016 as a member of the Oregon Ducks. After turning pro, he was the PGA Tour's Rookie of the Year in 2017-2018, a season that included his lone victory at the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson.

With that win, Wise earned his first invite to the Masters the following year and finished solo 17th. This was to be his first trip back after qualifying by earning a spot in last year's Tour Championship.

Wise, 26, is currently No. 45 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but was off to a disappointing start to 2023. He's missed the cut in four of his past five stroke-play events—including shooting a first-round 80 at the Players Championship—and failed to get out of his group at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship last week.