Grayson Murray died on Saturday on the age of 30.
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At the conclusion of a somber, surreal day on the Charles Schwab Challenge, PGA Tour gamers mourned the sudden death of Grayson Murray, their 30-year-old peer who’d withdrawn from the occasion only a day earlier than.
On Friday morning Murray had teed it up alongside Peter Malnati within the 8:06 day off No. 1. Their third, Adam Schenk, had withdrawn following the primary spherical with a again harm, so that they performed on as a twosome. But Murray withdrew following a bogey on the sixteenth gap, citing sickness; Malnati completed as a single. On Saturday morning the surprising information got here in a message from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan: Murray was gone.
After Saturday’s spherical Malnati joined the CBS broadcast, the place he sat with Amanda Balionis.
“This is going to be really hard,” Malnati stated, choking again tears. “I didn’t even know Grayson all that effectively, however I spent the final two days with him. And it’s humorous, we get so labored up out right here about, y’know, a foul break right here or a very good break there. We’re so aggressive out right here and also you need to beat one another — after which one thing like this occurs and also you understand we’re all simply people.
“It’s just a really hard day because you look at Grayson and you see in him someone who has visibly, outwardly struggled in the past and he’s been open about it. And you see him get his life back to a place where, y’know, he’s feeling good about things.”
Malnati recalled a narrative from Wake Forest golf coach Jerry Haas. College wasn’t proper for Murray — “he’ll be the first to admit that college wasn’t real good for him,” Malnati stated — however he left an impression within the semester he spent taking part in for the Demon Deacons.
“The week of the Wyndham Championship I was talking to Jerry and he told me, he said, ‘I had Bill [Haas] come through here. I had Webb [Simpson]. But the most talented player I’d ever seen set foot on this campus I only got to keep for one semester and it was Grayson Murray.’”
Malnati wept as he continued.
“Just to know that he’s not going to be doing that anymore, I think it’s a huge loss for all of us on the PGA Tour. It’s a huge loss for our fans. In a time like this you realize that as much as we want to beat each other, as much as you want to be competitive, we really are one big family. And we lost one today, and that’s terrible.”
In the hours following his death, participant tributes helped sew collectively a picture of a person who’d been open about his struggles with dependancy, despair and anxiousness however had made strides in direction of a promising future on and off the course — and appeared intent on serving to others experiencing any of the identical battles he’d confronted.
Webb Simpson heard the information some 10 minutes earlier than his Saturday tee time; he spoke to reporters following his spherical. He and Murray had shared a instructor who’d reached out to Simpson with the information.
“We have a long history,” Simpson stated. “I think I first met Grayson at my home club when Grayson was probably eight years old, maybe nine.” Murray was additionally the first-ever winner of the Webb Simpson Challenge Junior Tournament. They’d performed collectively on Tour as just lately because the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks in the past, after they have been in the identical group for the primary two rounds.
“I know that his mom was with him during the Wells Fargo Championship and I think they were hanging out together, and I loved those two days we got together,” Simpson stated. “So I’m super thankful for getting some good time with him before the bad news of today.”
Simpson added that he’d had a meal with Murray at Pebble Beach in January and had loved listening to about Murray exploring his religion.
“It definitely seemed like there was more of a lightness to him, in a good way, over these past few months when I would see him,” Simpson stated.
Justin Rose was of their group on the Wells Fargo; he posted to Twitter that he’ll bear in mind their time collectively as a reminder that “you never know what challenges people have going on in their lives and how they may be internalising things.”
“RIP Grayson,” he concluded. “And love and strength to your family and friends.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was on web site at Colonial Country Club Saturday afternoon. He’d first heard about Murray’s death simply after 11 a.m. ET, he stated, although he wasn’t ready to supply up any particulars till the household had spoken publicly. But he addressed a years-old objection Murray had made concerning the Tour, which he’d alleged hadn’t helped him sufficient via his early struggles.
“Y’know, when Grayson said that, I called him right away,” Monahan stated. “Over the last several years I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do, in his estimation, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here.”
Monahan added he’s happy with the developments the Tour has made in supporting its gamers. But he described himself as “devastated” by Murray’s loss.
“Listen, these are some of the best athletes in the world. They think they’re — and they are, in many respects — invincible. I think one of the things that I think back about Grayson’s openness is I speak about courage; he taught us all a lesson on that front, and that’s something I’ll never forget.”
Monahan stated the Tour was planning to convene as a group on Saturday to make a plan to honor Murray going ahead and to supply help to his peers.
“It’s not just about tomorrow. It’s about the weeks ahead, it’s about the months ahead,” he stated. “There are a lot of people that are going to be carrying a heavy heart for a long period of time out on the PGA TOUR, and there’s a family that is obviously devastated that we need to support.”
At the urging of Murray’s dad and mom, who spoke to Tour officers on Saturday, the event performed on. “They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so,” Monahan stated. “As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler got here off the course in second place at 10 underneath par and stated the information hadn’t but sunk in.
“I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them,” he stated. “I can’t imagine how difficult of a time this is. I got to know Grayson a bit better over the last six months or so and, yeah, really just, there’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I’m thinking about his family.”
Will Zalatoris was amongst those that chimed in on social media.
“My guy lived a tough life,” he wrote on Instagram. “His struggles are over and I know he’s not in pain anymore. Hate to lose somebody who regardless of what people said was always so great to me. RIP brother.”
“Speechless to hear about Grayson,” Justin Thomas wrote on Twitter. “Guy had been through so many ups and downs to get where he was. I hurt so much for his family and the people closest to him. My condolences and deepest sympathies.”
“Life is so fragile,” wrote Bubba Watson. “I was just hugging you at the Masters, telling you how proud of you I am. Thankful to have known you.”
Luke Donald expressed his disbelief on the passing of somebody he’d seen only a week prior. Ernie Els wrote that Murray was “for real and honest to the core.”
Smylie Kaufman wrote that he was “heartbroken” and that Murray was “a friend to me at some of my lowest points of my career and I’ll always be very appreciative of that.” Akshay Bhatia wrote that Murray was “a great friend that always supported me as I did to him.” And former Korn Ferry Tour professional Patrick Sullivan posted a message Murray had despatched him providing encouragement after Sullivan had voiced his struggles with anxiousness and despair.
“I deal with it myself,” Murray wrote. “Keep plugging along man you aren’t alone.”
