Aaron Wise is back on tour—and his wife is his caddie
Aaron Wise enters the ISCO Championship final round one stroke off the lead at Hurstbourne Country Club—with his wife Reagan carrying his bag. After withdrawing from the 2023 Masters to prioritize mental health, the 30-year-old former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year has fought his way back into contention, crediting Reagan for helping him stay present and enjoy competing again.
Key Takeaways
- Aaron Wise finished Saturday at the ISCO Championship one shot off the lead after a 4-under 66.
- His wife Reagan has caddied for him since his February 2025 return after nearly two years away.
- Wise withdrew from the 2023 Masters citing mental health struggles that extended beyond golf.
- He called Reagan someone he will lean on to stay in the moment during Sunday's final round.
- Wise posted his best PGA Tour finish since 2023 at last week's John Deere Classic.
Why is Aaron Wise's comeback drawing so much attention?
On Saturday at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky, Aaron Wise walked off the 18th green one stroke behind the leader at the ISCO Championship. His wife Reagan was carrying his golf bag—not a hired Tour caddie, but the person who stood beside him through his longest absence from professional golf.
Wise opened with consecutive 65s before carding a 66 on Saturday, leaving him in contention for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson. For a player who once wondered whether he would compete on Tour again, simply being in the mix on a weekend matters as much as the leaderboard.
How did Reagan Wise become her husband's caddie?
A year ago, Reagan knew little about caddying. Today, WDRB columnist Eric Crawford notes, she handles the duties a professional caddie would—and Wise says that frees him to focus on golf while keeping his best friend on the bag.
"It's someone I feel like I can trust and just enjoy spending my time out there with," Wise said Saturday. "As time has gone on, people have been trying to get me to get a caddie and I've been wanting to get a caddie, but honestly, she's been doing such a good job."
The story echoes 2018, when Reagan—then Reagan Trussell—secretly flew to surprise Aaron on the 18th green at the Byron Nelson for his first Tour win. Eight years later, she is still there when the round ends. The only difference is she is carrying the bag now.
What mental health struggles led Aaron Wise to step away?
Wise withdrew from the 2023 Masters days before it began to focus on his mental health. As Golf Monthly reported, the struggle was not limited to practice or tournament rounds. "It wasn't even just losing the joy of practicing," Wise said this week. "It was off-the-course life. I just didn't feel like myself."
He told the outlet he did not even want to go have dinner with friends—evidence he was in a "really, really bad place." He did not rebuild the golfer first; he rebuilt the man. Golf followed only after nearly two years away, with a return in February 2025 and Reagan at his side.
"There was a lot of times I never knew if I would even be able to play out here again," Wise said Saturday. His journey aligns with broader conversations about wellbeing in high-performance fields, a theme we track in Future Tech & AI Wonders.
What happens next at the ISCO Championship?
Wise enters Sunday's final round one stroke off the lead, chasing a breakthrough after his best PGA Tour finish since 2023 at the John Deere Classic. Before the third round, he called the week "more good golf and another chance to be there on the weekend and learn from it and grow."
"She's definitely someone I'll lean on tomorrow," Wise said of Reagan, "just to keep me present, keep me in the moment and have fun no matter what's going on." As Crawford wrote for WDRB, professional golf says he should hire a Tour caddie—but life says he already has the person he needs. She may not know every yardage yet. More important, she knows him.