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AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 18, 2018

Aaron Wise

Irving, Texas

Q. Clean card for you, Aaron. We were just talking, that and even on your second 9 you had four birdies in your final 7 holes, even with a 25 minute wait.
You said it was extremely stressful. How did you get to that finish?

AARON WISE: Just kind of everything really led to it. You know it would be tough with the wind up, especially around here there's no trees on the property, nothing to really block it. You knew it was going to be a tough day.

We managed it really well and, you know, it was nice. I felt like as well as I played yesterday my putting a left a couple out there. Today I got a couple to drop. It all evened out and I'm into a great spot going into the weekend.

Q. Hard to believe with watching you play, you're 21 years old, and a rookie coming off your best finish, tied for 2nd at the Wells Fargo Championship.
In what ways are you using the confidence you gained in that finish to propel you this week?

AARON WISE: It was just confidence, like you said. I took a week off so it's not like I've been rolling through it. It was nice to get some rest but it's nice just to know, especially now being in the position, this is the second Saturday in a row in the final group, to put myself in there at my age and get that experience is great.

Q. Today, 6 birdies, the eagle, you get to it 14-under. That putter is red hot, my man. How are you doing it out there?
AARON WISE: Actually I felt like I left it out there yesterday. It was great to see some drop today. I definitely gained a couple and, you know, I knew it was going to be a tough day.

It's windy out here and I saw Marc Leishman way out there at 15-under. I started the day at 6 so I knew I had a long ways to go.

And even though I don't think a lot of people are playing that great it was nice when I started getting it going to see his number still ahead of me. So I keep chasing. I felt I had to go get him a little bit.

Q. You saw a putt drop on the 3rd hole from 47 feet away. Bonus putt right there?
AARON WISE: Yeah, that's a bonus. It's really tricky with the pin. They got a little irritated with everyone making birdie yesterday. Kind of where I had to from where I was at and just rolled a putt in. It was a bonus.

Q. In the hunt again. How are you feeling about the weekend here?
AARON WISE: Good. First time I've been in the hunt with something to look back at. I did great two weeks ago and it's just get it going and feeling good about the game. Excited to go tee up tomorrow.

Q. Tougher this afternoon. Didn't seem to affect you too much.
AARON WISE: They were tough. It makes this course play way different because of how firm and fast it is and there's no trees or anything to block it so you're really out there with the wind and I just felt like me and my caddy did a great job of managing it, leaving my ball in good spots.

To go bogey-free today was pretty impressive with some of the spots you can get in. We did a great job of managing it.

Q. What does this course remind you of, given where you're traveled cross the world.
AARON WISE: A mix of like there's Bandon done up in Oregon, that's pretty similar but I would relate it mostly to when I played over in Melbourne, Australia at Royal Melbourne. The fairways are firm and fast and the ball is going so far. You got to manage that. That's probably the closest thing.

Q. Is that why Leishman and Adam Scott are at the top of the leaderboard?
AARON WISE: It probably helps. I didn't recognize that. That's probably a huge help for them. Probably very close to what they grew up on.

Q. Being in the final group tomorrow, is there anything about your experience from Quail Hollow you can use or build upon?
AARON WISE: Just the confidence knowing I've been there. It was tough at Quail because I knew there were some big names up there and I never had been in that situation. Knowing that I've been there and played well, it gives me a ton of confidence going into tomorrow.

Q. You switched putters recently. How big are you, like how did it feel today and how did the change do for you and kind of give you a boost?
AARON WISE: Lot of people have been asking me about that. I didn't really change. So I putted with this putter forever and then at Zurich I actually switched to another putter and then I switched back at Wells Fargo.

Only a short little time with another one but maybe I scared this one into thinking it's going to lose the job and it's helped. I putted great today. I felt like I left a few out there yesterday so it was great to see some of the longer ones drop and definitely helped. You weren't going to be able to ball strike this course to death today with how windy it was.

Q. With this windy as it could be tomorrow, did you feel like you got a little bit of the preview this afternoon with the winds kicking up with what it will play like, because they're talking possibly 20 to 25?
AARON WISE: This place will be tough. It will be tough. No, it's good. It changes. I don't know if it's going to be in the same direction or what.

You're going to have to play it by ear. It plays totally different because of bounces and stuff. It's all of our first time around. You're kind of learning as you go and we're trying to get as good as we can.

Q. Couple of examples of managing the wind?
AARON WISE: There's some tough -- that's a tough question. There's some holes that were just playing really, really short because the ball is bouncing and you're downwind. All of a sudden this bunker at 370 you can reach and it's a bad spot to be in.

There's just some stuff. It played tricky. Like the driveable hole, Keith, who I was playing with, hit 2-iron off the tee. It's 300 to the front edge. It's tricky. But it's a ton of fun and I like that.

Q. What made you decide to switch at Zurich?
AARON WISE: I just felt like I needed something new. I went with this putter through the West Coast swing and I missed a lot of putts because those greens tend to be bumpy on the Poa Annua. I felt I was getting a little uncomfortable looking at it having those bad memories. I kind of fixed everything. I putted great at Quail and great this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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