PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray dead at 30
By Homero De la Fuente and Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray has died, one day after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, according to PGA Tour officials.
No cause of death has been listed. He was 30 years old.
“We were devastated to learn – and are heartbroken to share – that PGA TOUR player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement Saturday.
The two-time PGA Tour winner Murray withdrew from the tournament with two holes left to play in the second round on Friday, citing an illness.
Earlier this year, Murray won the Sony Open in a playoff against former PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun to end a six-and-a-half winless years drought during which he admitted to struggling with mental health and physical issues.
CNN has reached out to tournament organizers for more information.
Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Murray was regarded as one of the world’s best junior players, capturing three IMG Junior World titles in 2006, ’07, and ’08. According to the PGA Tour, at age 16, he became the second youngest to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, and at age 19, he played in the 2013 U.S. Open. He went on to win the 2017 Barbasol Championship at just 23 years old.
“Grayson was the absolute best. Not only was he an incredible, thoughtful and generous boss, he was an even better friend,” his caddie Jay Green said in a statement, according to Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine. “He truly would do anything for anyone. He has the best family, and my heart goes out to them. We will all miss him deeply.”
Murray’s agent Kevin Canning said in a statement to CNN, “We are saddened and heartbroken to learn about the sudden passing of Grayson Murray. Grayson has been a longtime member of the GSE family and hearing the news this morning shocked all of us.”
And in an X post, former Masters winner Bubba Watson said he was “very sad” to learn of Grayson’s death.
“I was just hugging you at the Masters, telling you how proud of you I am,” he recalled. “Thankful to have known you. My deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time. He will be missed.”
Murray was vocal about some of the struggles that dogged his golf career, including alcohol. He had spent some time in rehab, according to an interview with the PGA, and also struggled with anxiety.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said “the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet” after his third round at the Charles Schwab Challenge on Saturday.
“I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them,” he told reporters. “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.”
2012 US Open winner Webb Simpson also paid tribute to Murray on Saturday, saying that the two had a “long history” together.
“I think I first met Grayson at my home club when Grayson was probably eight years old, maybe nine. He was the first winner of the Webb Simpson Challenge Junior Tournament that I’ve had for 14 years,” Simpson told reporters.
“So, when you hear news like that over the phone you don’t think it’s real at first, and you know, you hear the emotion coming from our swing coach and then you realize it’s real.
“But 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. So I’m super thankful for getting some good time with him before the bad news of today.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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