Grayson Murray dies at 30: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, pro golfers react to 'huge loss for all of us' – CBS Sports

Play Now
Football Pick’em
Play Now
College Pick’em
A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast
NFL Draft recap
Professional golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide this weekend following his second-round withdrawal in the Charles Schwab Challenge. Following the announcement of his death, there was immediate reaction from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and other competitors Saturday at Colonial Country Club and beyond.
Monahan sat down with Amanda Balionis of CBS Sports to discuss the tragic situation shortly after he arrived in Fort Worth, Texas.  
“There’s a brotherhood out here,” Monahan said. “There’s a family out here. And I just wanted to be here for our players, our caddies, our families that are here. This is a close-knit community out on the PGA Tour, and to be in the locker room and to see the devastation on the faces of every player that’s coming in is really difficult to see and really just profound.”
Monahan added that Murray, 30, was a remarkable player, but also was “a very courageous person” for the ways he worked toward bettering his life after battling anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse.
Players at the Charles Schwab Challenge were alerted of Murray’s death as they finished the third round. Because of the timing, many of them were finding out about the news after the round and reacting in the moment.
“Yeah, obviously the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet, but I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who shot 63 on Saturday. “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.”
“It was a huge shock,” said Webb Simpson told CBS Sports. Simpson and Murray have known one another since Murray’s youth. “My heart sank. I’ve had a junior tournament for 14 years now — the Webb Simpson Challenge — he was the first ever winner. I remember that day like it was yesterday when he got the trophy. I knew he was going to be a great player from Day 1.
“I just played with him at Charlotte the first two days. We had a great time together. His game looked good. I just hate it. I hate it so much. I’ve gotten to know him even better this year — we shared a meal together at Pebble Beach with his fiancee. I know she’s hurting and everyone associated with Grayson Murray is hurting. I know that he came to faith, placed his faith in Jesus Christ this year, I think it was. I hate it, I miss him, but I’m thankful that he was in the place he was in with his faith before this morning happened.”
Peter Malnati, who played with Murray over the first two rounds at Colonial, wept during his interview.
“I didn’t know Grayson all that well, but I spent the last two days with him,” Malnati said. “It’s funny, we get so worked up out here about a bad break here or a good break there. We’re so competitive. We’re so competitive out here. We all want to beat each other. Then something like this happens, and you realize, ‘We’re all just humans.’ 
“It’s a really hard day because you look at Grayson and you see 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 he’s feeling good about things. It’s just so sad. I was with him yesterday. He’s playing great! His game is so good! He’s so good at golf.”
Malnati then told a story about how Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas — father of Bill Haas and former coach of Simpson and Will Zalatoris — once told him that Murray was the most talented player to ever step foot on the Wake Forest campus.
“It’s a huge loss for all of us on the PGA Tour, it’s a huge loss for our fans,” Malnati said. “In a time like this you realize that as much as we want to beat each other and as much as we want to be competitive, we’re one big family. And we lost one today, and that’s terrible.”
Others like Justin Thomas, Luke Donald and Bubba Watson shared some of their thoughts via social media.
Truly devastating news that Grayson Murray has passed away. He asked me for some advice on how to play Augusta a few months ago, last week I saw him at the PGA Championship, life truly is precious. My condolences and prayers to his whole family that they may find some peace 💔
Very sad to hear the news of Grayson Murray’s passing today. Life is so fragile… I was just hugging you at the Masters, telling you how proud of you I am. Thankful to have known you.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time. He will be missed.
Speechless to hear about Grayson. 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
© 2004-2024 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.
CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.
Images by Getty Images and US Presswire

source

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top