May 26, 2024, 11:44 am ET
The parents of professional golfer Grayson Murray said Sunday that the two-time PGA Tour winner committed suicide Saturday morning.
“We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone,” Eric and Terry Murray said in a statement. “It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but we also have to admit it to the world. It’s a nightmare.
“…Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his life, we know he now rests in peace.”
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Grayson Murray, 30, withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial after the 16th hole of Friday’s second round in Fort Worth, Texas. The PGA Tour cited the reason as an illness.
“We have so many unanswered questions. But one: Did they love Grayson? The answer is yes,” his parents said in their statement. “For us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, his entire extended family, his friends, his fellow players and, it seems, many of you reading this. He was loved and will be missed.
“We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire golf world for the tremendous support. Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy and honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we can’t ask for anything more “
Murray has spoken out about alcohol and mental health in the past, saying he used to drink during tournament weeks when he was a rookie because he knew he had talent and felt invincible. He made a big turnaround this year and won the Sony Open, hitting a 3-foot corner for birdie on the final hole to reach a playoff and winning it with a 40-foot putt.
“It took me a long time to get to this point,” Murray said in January. “That was seven years ago, more than seven years ago. I’m a different man now. I wouldn’t be in this position today if he hadn’t given up that drink eight months ago.”
He also won the Barbasol Championship as a 22-year-old PGA Tour rookie in 2017.
Murray, who was ranked 58th in the world, was coming off a tie for 43rd at the PGA Championship last week in Valhalla. He also made the cut in his Masters debut, finishing 51st, and was in the field for next month’s US Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Murray, who grew up in North Carolina, was among the most talented young people in the country. He won the prestigious World Junior Championships in San Diego three years in a row and earned the Arnold Palmer Scholarship at Wake Forest.
He ended up attending three universities, finally Arizona State.
Murray said when he won the Sony Open in January that he had been sober for eight months, was engaged to be married and felt his best golf was ahead of him. That same month he was named to the PGA Tour’s 16-member Player Advisory Council.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who flew to Texas on Saturday, said there were grief counselors at the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour event.
“Being in the locker room, seeing the devastation on the faces of every player that walks in, it’s really hard to watch. And really profound,” Monahan said during the Keynote USA broadcast Saturday.
“Grayson was a remarkable player on the PGA Tour, but he was also a very brave man. And I’ve always loved that about him, and I know the locker room is full of people who will really take it away when he does it.” They think of Grayson.”
Information from The Keynote USA was used in this article.
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