Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray dies Saturday morning
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning, the Tour confirmed.
Murray withdrew Friday late in his second round at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, citing an illness.
In a memo to the membership that was released Saturday afternoon, commissioner Jay Monahan wrote: “The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same. There is nothing we can do but mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones.”
Monahan said that, after a conversation with Murray’s parents, tournament play at Colonial would continue.
“They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so,” Monahan said. “As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes.”
Murray, 30, won the Sony Open in a playoff earlier this year, ending a six-year winless drought during which he’d struggled both mentally and physically.
Murray, who was profiled in this in-depth piece by Golf Channel in 2017, had been open about his battles with anxiety and depression. He said in January that he sought treatment in the past few years for alcohol abuse but had been sober for several months.
Following his victory at Waialae, Murray spoke optimistically about his future, saying that he had rediscovered his faith and was engaged to be married to Christiana Ritchie, whom he met in 2021.
“I wouldn’t trade anything,” Murray said at the time. “I have a beautiful fiancée. I have beautiful parents. I have beautiful nephews, siblings. Everyone in my life right now who is close to me, who has been through the struggles with me, it’s all a team effort. I think this is just the start of something really special.”
Growing up, Murray was one of the best prospects in the country, winning the prestigious Junior Worlds three times and becoming, at age 16, then the second-youngest to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour. Though he bounced around in college, Murray made an immediate impact once he landed on the PGA Tour, claiming the 2017 Barbasol Championship as a 22-year-old rookie.
“Best thing and worst thing that ever happened to me was winning my rookie year but also feeling like I was invincible,” Murray said earlier this year. He said he often drank to excess while at tournaments while battling his personal demons.
“It took me a long time to get to this point,” he said. “That was over seven years ago. I’m a different man now.”
Murray had made the cut in the first two majors of the year, including last week at the PGA Championship, where he tied for 43rd.