First Masters round learning experience for Aaron Wise

Aaron Wise said he wasn’t too worried or surprised when he started his first Masters Tournament with a bogey. It’s common for him to be nervous in the beginning of a round.

What did surprise him was how quickly he bounced back and warmed up to one of golf’s most challenging courses. He erased his bogey with a birdie on the next hole and got his second at No. 7.

But a tough closing stretch thwarted his climb and pushed him to 3-over-par 75 after Thursday’s first round at Augusta National.

The former University of Oregon standout was still pleased to be able to compete in his first Masters.

“I’m excited that I’m in this tournament,” Wise said. “I started, I feel like I settled down and I can go out there and play, you know.”

He added that talking with some of the veterans helped him prepare for how the course would play following Monday and Tuesday’s storms.

When things started to go down hill for the 22-year-old, he said it wasn’t just one thing but a few random ones, specifically on the par-4 17th, where he double-bogeyed.

“It hit it in the trees, punched out and really what cost me there was a wedge shot,” he said. “I had a pretty easy wedge shot from about 80 yards and dumped it to like 45 feet short and ended up three-putting from there so a lot of mistakes on that hole and it added up to a double.”

He finished the round with 32 putts and hit nine fairways and 11 greens in regulation.

And as excited as he was to get out and compete on Thursday, he said he wasn’t intimidated by the atmosphere.

“It’s a pretty cool experience with no one having cell phones and everyone’s kind of just watching,” Wise said. “It’s such a knowledgeable fan base out here and they obviously know what good golf is and know what isn’t, that’s pretty awesome. Today was a treat and that was pretty cool to play that first round for me.”

Wise, who’s grouped with Justin Harding (-3) and Angel Cabrera (+10), tees off Friday at 11:48 a.m.

“I need to go and attack some holes early, hopefully get a couple under par, get some of those back that I just lost and then just play smart,” he said.