“It’s pretty eye-opening what I’ve been able to do,” said Wise in a telephone interview from this week’s Fort Worth Invitational at the famed Colonial CC, the second of back-to-back Dallas-area stops. “I think if you told me when I turned pro that in two years I was going to be a PGA Tour winner with status for the next couple of years out here I would have jumped with joy and couldn’t have waited for that opportunity. It’s truly special to think back at what’s occurred the last couple of years. It’s something I couldn’t even dream of. I just kind of like to stay in the moment and at that moment that I first turned pro it was playing in Canada and taking it from there. And to think that I went one year out there, on to Web, on to PGA, and then winning, it’s truly something I don’t even think I knew was possible back then.”

From a family of modest means, Wise did not play a tremendous amount of junior golf outside of California simply because his parents couldn’t afford the travel. In fact, he didn’t play much golf at all from the ages 11 to 14, firstly because he broke his arm in a dirt-biking accident and that needed time to heal, and secondly, because his parents forbid him from playing tournaments for two years after observing Aaron’s complacency with the game. They were prudent to do so, Wise confirmed, and when he eventually re-immersed himself with their blessing his competitive hunger was ravenous.

“That was huge for me. It really reignited the fire underneath me, really knowing that I wanted to start competing again,” he said.

Despite his limited schedule and no real national exposure, Wise was recruited by Oregon after a pair of strong performances at the Junior Worlds at Torrey Pines near San Diego. At Oregon, Wise played under former tour player Casey Martin, though it wasn’t until he travelled to Australia and won the Australia Masters of the Amateurs at Royal Melbourne GC in January of 2016 that he fully committed himself to playing professionally. He studied law at Oregon and had visions of becoming a defence attorney after becoming hooked on the show Suits. (Yes, he would have been a lawyer named Wise.)

He left school early, came to Canada — where Suits was filmed —and flourished, the travelling on his own — across a country he’d never previously visited — and the win in Edmonton helping to prepare him for what was to come at the next levels.

“My win up there, it was my first professional win anywhere, and just learning the post-round stuff that goes along with winning was huge,” explained Wise. “Last week, winning the Byron Nelson, a lot of it was exactly the same. You got the trophy ceremony, you go to the volunteers and everybody and thank them and the tournament sponsors. Giving a couple of speeches definitely helped, knowing what to do afterwards definitely helped, and it all just made it easier rather than being shocked and having to go through everything for the first time.”

Take note of that quote. It wasn’t so much the experience of playing in Canada that helped groom Wise but winning here, almost as though that was the expectation all along, though who could blame Wise for such confidence given the wave he was riding before heading north. It’s why when asked how steep the learning curve has been in this his freshman PGA Tour season, Wise, in effect, disagreed with the premise.

“It hasn’t been too much just because I spent the year out on the (Mackenzie) Tour and on the Web and I was able to kind of progress,” Wise said. “It went from the little things you had to do on the Mackenzie Tour to slightly bigger on the Web and to out here, the biggest stage, but I feel like those little progressions along the way really helped prepare me and were huge in getting me prepared for this moment.

“And I think that’s why, in part, you don’t see a big learning curve for a guy like me, just because I’ve been through it on the other tours, maybe on a smaller level without everyone’s eyes on me, but kind of the same things.”

Though Wise said he hadn’t had time to really let his Byron Nelson win sink in, he’s already reaping its benefits, beyond the nearly $1.4 million that was deposited into his bank account. In trying for the Dallas-area double this week at Colonial, he’ll play the first two rounds with past major champions Justin Rose and Zach Johnson, a nicety afforded by his newfound PGA Tour winner status.

“To be paired with two major champs is just a treat and kind of a cool side of being a winner out here, you get to play with other winners,” Wise said. “That’s one of the things I’m most excited for — good tee times, playing with great players and it’s only going to help my game, playing with guys that good week in, week out. I’m going to learn so much from them. I’ve got plenty of time to learn and that’s what I plan on doing. Just kind of soaking in what they’re doing, learning when I can and trying to get better and better.”

So the learning curve is going to start after he’s already won on the PGA Tour? Kid’s got a bright future.