Offseason lessons propel Brandon Wu in PGA TOUR call-up

Eight months ago, long before he became one of the front-runners for Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year honors, Brandon Wu was registering for LocalIQ Series events and searching for an opportunity, any opportunity really, to play on the Korn Ferry Tour. Every time his chance seemed to be approaching, the 24-year-old Stanford Engineering grad would find another unfortunate setback.

Starting in February as the first alternate at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova, he waited around all week and warmed up for a shot, but nobody withdrew and he took the evening flight home instead of an afternoon tee time. Six weeks later, he was supposed to compete at home in Dallas at the Veritex Bank Championship, but COVID hit a month prior to the event, wiping it from the schedule.

In the Korn Ferry Tour’s Return to Golf in June, he tried to Monday qualify for the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, playing his way into a four-for-three Tuesday playoff, but ended up the unfortunate lone man out. After receiving a sponsor’s exemption into the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, July 1-4, he was confident he’d finally get his chance there. But he tested positive upon arrival for COVID.

“That was a bummer,” Wu said. “I’d been waiting around for months for the opportunity to try and play.”

His shot finally came nearly eight months into the season at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. Driving to the Monday qualifier, Wu got an email from the Korn Ferry Tour staff asking who his caddie was for the week. Confused, he replied asking the reasoning behind the request because he wasn’t in the event, so he thought. But thanks to a number of withdrawals, he had gained entry via his conditional status as one of the last players in the field.

“That was a neat surprise, but yeah, that was kind of like, ‘OK, here’s your chance, you know?’” Wu said. “I got up there and luckily played well that week. I think I had a three-shot lead going into the last day, so it was disappointing finishing ninth after that. But looking back, that was such a key week to get some Points scored and be able to reshuffle and get into the tournaments.”

Using the T9 as a springboard instead of a disappointment, he ripped off two runner-up finishes and a win at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance before the close of the calendar year.

“I felt like I saw the full spectrum of trying to Monday qualify for Korn Ferry Tour events to eventually winning the (Korn Ferry Tour) Championship,” Wu said. “It just shows you all the different facets of professional golf on that level. It’s humbling. It makes you want to work hard and have a place to play. I think it’s definitely a rewarding journey that I went through.”

Now No. 4 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with a future PGA TOUR card only a question of when, not if, Wu hasn’t stopped his tear. As one of the 10 Korn Ferry Tour players who gained entry into the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open via a one-time category for TOUR additional events, Wu grabbed the 36-hole lead by a shot with rounds of 66-67 for his first career PGA TOUR lead. Despite the putts not dropping on the weekend, Wu felt comfortable in contention on the PGA TOUR and said his buddy Collin Morikawa told him last year that he just needed to continue to work on his comfortability out on the PGA TOUR because his game was strong enough to play out there.

“I learned a lot (in Puerto Rico). Felt like I played really well. Couple short putts didn’t go my way and that was probably the difference between making a run at the end there,” Wu said. “But, yeah, it just feels good having good experiences and becoming more comfortable. I think that was a big thing.”

Wu’s T7 was not only his first career top-10 on the PGA TOUR but also changed his upcoming schedule, earning him entry into The Honda Classic next week via his top-10 since each of the following two events – Arnold Palmer Invitational and PLAYERS Championship – were invitational events where top-10s don’t earn entry into the following event. Although he’ll now miss the Korn Ferry Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS next week, he couldn’t pass up the chance at another PGA TOUR start.

“I feel like when you’re presented with these opportunities, you have to go try and learn and take advantage,” Wu said.

Wu is also into the following week’s Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship via his top-10 status on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List upon the conclusion of last summer’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Despite his strong showing in Puerto Rico, the goal hasn’t changed for him, especially after Korn Ferry Tour points leader Will Zalatoris played his way up early to the PGA TOUR via Special Temporary Membership.

“Our goal coming into this season was just to hopefully to get that No. 1 spot in the rankings on the Korn Ferry Tour because I feel like the better you play on the Korn Ferry Tour, it sets you up better for success your first year on TOUR. So I think that’s still kind of the goal,” Wu said. “Luckily, I think the opportunities playing these opposite-field events and now The Honda Classic are just good opportunities to dip my toe into what it would be like to be on TOUR. So it’s just building experience. If I continue to play well and have a chance at Special Temporary Membership, then that’s a good goal to have, too.”

When Wu, who says he’d be working in something product design-related like designing cars or working in aerospace if it weren’t for pro golf, does arrive on the PGA TOUR permanently, he’s already got his sights set on an avenue for improvement that the Korn Ferry Tour can’t provide him, in the form of ShotLink data. Similar to his buddy Maverick McNealy, he wants to hire a statistician to help him determine the best way to navigate each course and where to focus his improvement.

“We actually looked into (hiring a statistician) this offseason, but I think most of the stats stuff is only on the PGA TOUR courses because ShotLink makes it really easy to compile the data and look at trends. But that’s definitely something I’m interested in exploring at The Honda Classic,” Wu said. “That’s a course I’m sure they have plenty of data on, that you can definitely have an advantage. I think stats are really important. For me, especially this year, I started using Trackman a lot more, which is basically, you’re just collecting a bunch of data on how far the ball is flying. That’s really helped me improve certain parts of my game like my iron play and my wedge play.”

Wu, who likes to understand both the biomechanics and numbers behind his game, said he’s long felt like his tendency sometimes to get too steep in his swing has led to inconsistency with his wedges. In the offseason, Wu and his coach Jeff Smith, who also works with Viktor Hovland, worked hard on a plan to address the inconsistency while dialing in his distance control better by having him focus on just five wedge numbers – 75, 90, 105, 120 and 135 yards – and he’s already seen the improvements.

“We just work on those five yardages, then I can dial it a little back from a yardage or dial it up and work that way instead of trying to hit each individual number,” Wu said.

Along with his wedge play, Wu also sought to fine-tune his mental game in the offseason, so he began working with George Mumford, a mindfulness and performance expert who has worked with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant after being hired by Phil Jackson during his time coaching the Lakers and Bulls.

“I think the biggest key lesson that I learned right away is it’s not about molding yourself into someone else or trying to emulate someone else,” Wu said. “He likes to say, ‘Chip away at the masterpiece inside you.’”

If the last nine months are any indication, don’t be surprised if Wu continues to chip away and unveil that masterpiece in the next two weeks on the PGA TOUR.