Q. How would you characterize the round today?
AARON WISE: I played solid. Tough golf course. I thought I did a great job out there. It just wasn't quite enough.
Q. What did you prove to yourself today playing in the final group?
AARON WISE: You know what, I knew I was up there. I guess my biggest takeaway from the day is I haven't won with the long putter yet. Obviously I've been putting with it for seven, eight months now. It's a big change, and I feel like I putt really well with it, but I haven't tested it in the heat trying to win a tournament.
And I thought I played well with it. I missed one on 18 but it was kind of over then, so it didn't really mean anything. I thought I putted and played great. It's always just confidence in the bank.
Q. Conditions were tough today. Most scores backed up. Just talk about the conditions and how much tougher it was today than the first three.
AARON WISE: Yeah, it was tough. The greens were just firmer. Yesterday they were firm too, but there was no wind. Today there was some wind we had to deal with. It was swirly.
You get in the channels and in the trees there, and it's not where it should be. It plays tricky. But I did a good job managing it. I thought I put a really good round together. It just wasn't quite enough today.
Q. On 15, you hit a great shot, third shot. For a moment there, it looked like you had an opening. Walk us through that shot. Did you think it had a chance of going in, and your reaction when Billy made it?
AARON WISE: I hit a great shot. The way the crowd was reacting I knew it was tracking right for the hole. It was just a matter if it quite made it far enough down the hill or not.
But when they got loud, I thought it was going in. I thought that was going to be a big turning point for me. Instead it was kind of the opposite for me. It was a birdie for me, and Billy holed a 50-footer for eagle. That was the turning pointer for him.
It was a great back and forth. I felt like I had a chance all the way up until about then. You could kind of tell he could play the last three holes pretty safe. And he was safe unless I birdied, kind of, all three of them.
Q. Could you see your shot on 15, the approach?
AARON WISE: I saw the whole thing. It was literally right behind the pin. I couldn't tell how much speed it had coming back down the ridge there.
Q. When Billy hit his putt, did you kind of sense, at a certain point, it's going in?
AARON WISE: Yeah, the last 4 or 5 feet, you could tell it took a turn right for the cup. Looked like it was perfect speed the whole time. That's one of those things, that's what you do when you win a tournament. It is what it is. I thought I played great.
Q. How do you approach it when you are in the last group but you're five behind; you know you've got to put pressure on him, but you don't want to overdo it, how do you approach that?
AARON WISE: It depends on what kind of course you're playing. Today we were playing a tough course. I went out with the attitude I'm just going to do me and maybe hopefully Billy comes back to me, because you can't press out there too much because you can barely hold some of the greens, never mind attack some of the pins.
So I thought I did a great job. I thought I put a good round together. It was a testament to Billy. He did the same. He did what he needed to do, and he won the golf tournament.
Q. What does it mean to you to win second?
AARON WISE: It means a ton. This is a tournament you've watched on TV since you were a little kid. Walking off 18, shaking Jack's hand there, that's something you watch everyone do in the final group. And I got a chance to do it.
So it's bittersweet, but I'm very happy with the week I had and super excited to leave here with a second place.
Q. You did shake his hand, just not "the handshake"?
AARON WISE: I didn't get "the handshake," but I did shake his hand.
Q. Jack have any words of wisdom on the way up?
AARON WISE: No. He just told me I played great. I did what I could. Billy holed some good 7-, 8-footers when he needed to, to keep his momentum. And I agree with that. He made the clutch putts when he needed to and got the win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports