Aaron Wise Bests Marc Leishman by 3 Strokes for AT&T Byron Nelson 2018 Win

The weekend-long battle between Aaron Wise and Marc Leishman went in Wise's favor after he won the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson Classic by three shots with a 72-hole score of 23-under par.

Wise's score was also the lowest score to par in the 74-year history of this tournament, surpassing the previous mark of 20-under by Sam Snead in 1957. His cumulative score of 261 tied the best in tournament history (2009: Rory Sabbatini).

Picking up right where they left off on Saturday, Wise and Leishman traded blows early and briefly fell into a tie for the lead on hole No. 5. Five more birdies after that point gave Wise his first career win on the PGA Tour.

Heavy rain in the Dallas area early on Sunday caused a four-hour delay before players teed off. Everyone was able to get their round in, avoiding a return to the course Monday.

Here's how the top of the leaderboard looked after everyone was in the clubhouse, via PGATour.com:

1. Aaron Wise (-23) (Prize Money: $1,386,000)

2. Marc Leishman (-20)

T3. Branden Grace (-19)

T3. J.J. Spaun (-19)

T3. Keith Mitchell (-19)

T6. Ryan Blaum (-16)

T6. Kevin Na (-16)

T6. Jimmy Walker (-16)

T9. Adam Scott (-15)

T9. Charles Howell III (-15)

T9. Kevin Tway (-15)

After Leishman opened the tournament with a 61, Wise shot a 63 to get within one shot on Friday. The 21-year-old took the outright lead after the third round and had his third score of 65 or lower over four rounds in the fourth (65).

If there was any doubt that things have been going Wise's way in Dallas this weekend, his tee shot on No. 9 and subsequent birdie should have altered that opinion:

After a modest start with three straight pars, Wise kicked things into gear with six birdies over the next seven holes to pull away from Leishman and the rest of the field.

PGATour.com writer Jonathan Wall made a bold proclamation about Wise's career based on what he's seen from the South African native early in his career:

Certainly, Wise's past two events have shown a rapid evolution in his game. He finished second at the Wells Fargo Championship—a career-best result at the time and his first top-10 performance of the year—and has gone to another level at the Byron Nelson Classic.

Following his stellar opening round, Leishman was unable to find that spark again. He shot in the 60s for all four rounds, but bogeys on Nos. 10 and 15 on Sunday left him with a steep hill to climb and not enough time to reach the peak.

An eagle on No. 5 did put Leishman back into a tie for the lead, though it was short-lived since Wise answered with a birdie of his own on the same hole:

This was still an impressive weekend of golf for Leishman. He entered the Byron Nelson Classic coming off a missed cut at the RBC Heritage and 63rd-place finish at The Players Championship, so getting back on track with the Memorial Tournament in under two weeks is a good sign.

The most impressive player on Sunday was Branden Grace, whose 62 was the second-lowest round of the tournament. It was also a nice present on his 30th birthday:

This weekend, though, belonged to Wise. The PGA Tour's rising star has had his big breakthrough with four rounds of spectacular play that show he can become one of the best players in the world.

There is still a long way to go before Wise gets put in the same category as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. But everyone has to start somewhere.