Wise vaults 34 spots in Ryder Cup standings

[May 22, 2018]  The perks keep piling up for Aaron Wise, the 21-year-old who became a millionaire with his first career PGA Tour victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday.

Along with the winner's check of nearly $1.4 million, Wise rose 33 spots to a career-best 66th in the world golf rankings and 34 spots to No. 12 in the U.S. Ryder Cup team points race. With a tie for second and a victory in his past two starts, Wise is now exempt into all the major tournaments and sits just four spots out of an automatic spot on the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Not bad for the former Oregon star who was barely a blip on the Ryder Cup radar this time last month.

Wise earned 1,386 Ryder Cup points for his victory at the Byron Nelson, more than the 992 combined he entered the week with. The top 11 spots ahead of Wise went unchanged this week with Jordan Spieth the only player among them in the Byron Nelson field -- Spieth earned 80 Cup points to remain in fourth place behind Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. Bubba Watson is No. 5, followed by Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson.

The Players champion Webb Simpson is No. 9, followed by Matt Kuchar, Brian Harman, Wise, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Kisner and Jimmy Walker in the top 15.

The four majors in 2018 are weighted heavily in the U.S. Ryder Cup team points race, with winners receiving two points per $1,000 earned at the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship, and all other players receiving 1.5 points per $1,000 earned. That's compared to one point per every $1,000 earned in regular PGA Tour events in 2018 leading up to the Aug. 12 cutoff.

The 42nd Ryder Cup will be held at Le Golf National in Paris this September. Future venues include Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis., in 2020; the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome in '22; and Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., in '24. Europe has yet to announce the home courses for the 2026 and '30 Ryder Cups. After returning to Hazeltine (Chaska, Minn.) in '28, the next U.S. course will be The Olympic Club in San Francisco in 2032.

--Field Level Media

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