Family says golfer Murray, 30, died by suicide

The parents of professional golfer Grayson Murray on Sunday said the two-time PGA Tour winner died by 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 that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.

“… Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.”

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 illness.

“We have so many questions that have no answers. But one. Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes,” his parents said in their statement. “By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and — it seems — by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.

“We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy, and please honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.”

Many players competing at Colonial on Sunday wore black-and-red pins on their caps in honor of Murray. Those are the colors of the Carolina Hurricanes, his favorite NHL team.

“Obviously it was pretty difficult to come play golf,” said Scottie Scheffler, who tied for second at Colonial. “But like his parents said, he would have wanted the tournament to continue.”

Murray spoke about alcohol and mental health in the past, saying he used to drink during tournament weeks as a rookie because he knew he had talent and believed he was invincible. He made a massive turnaround this year and won the Sony Open, hitting a wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the final hole to get into 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, over seven years ago. I’m a different man now. I would not be in this position right now today if I didn’t put that drink down eight months ago.”

He also won the Barbasol Championship as a 22-year-old PGA Tour rookie in 2017.

Murray, who was No. 58 in the world ranking, was coming off a tie for 43rd in the PGA Championship last week at Valhalla. He also made the cut in his Masters debut, finishing 51st, and was in the field for next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

Murray, who grew up in North Carolina, was among the most talented juniors in the country. He won the prestigious Junior World championship in San Diego three straight years and earned the Arnold Palmer Scholarship at Wake Forest.

His first coach was Ted Kiegiel in North Carolina, who like so many others was devastated.

“Words cannot express the tragedy of this moment,” Kiegiel said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Grayson came from something that was ordinary and made it EXTRAORDINARY. … He burned bright for the 30 years he gave us.”

Murray wound up going to three colleges, lastly at 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 believed his best golf was ahead of him. He was appointed to the PGA Tour’s 16-member player advisory council the same month.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who flew to Texas on Saturday, said grief counselors were on site at the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour event.

“To be in the locker room, to see the devastation on the faces of every player that’s coming in, it’s really difficult to see. And really just profound,” Monahan said during the CBS broadcast Saturday.

“Grayson was a remarkable player on the PGA Tour, but he was a very courageous man, as well. And I’ve always loved that about him, and I know that the locker room is filled with people that really will take that away when they think about Grayson.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.