Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
The PGA Tour and his management team expressed shock and grief, sharing a statement from his parents, along with a post encouraging people experiencing a mental health crisis to call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
"We have so many questions and no answers," said Murray's parents, who shared that their son took his own life.
"We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone," they wrote. "It's a nightmare."
They wrote of how very loved he was -- by his entire family, his sister and brother, his friends and fellow players.
"He's loved and will be missed," they wrote.
They asked that his fans and loved ones honor his memory by being kind to one another.
"If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else," they said.
“I am at a loss for words,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same. We mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones.”
Murray attended Leesville Road High School, where he won an individual state championship.
His management company, GSE Worldwide, confirmed the death and said it was heartbroken.
“We will hold off on commenting until we learn further details, but our heart aches for his family, his friends and all who loved him during this very difficult time,” GSE said in a statement.
Monahan said he spoke with Murray's parents to offer condolences, and they asked that the tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, continue.
He said grief counselors would be on site at the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour event in Knoxville, Tennessee. Monahan said he was headed to Texas.
Murray, who had dealt with alcohol and mental health issues in the past, made a massive turnaround this year and won the Sony Open, hitting wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the final hole to get into a playoff and winning it with a 40-foot putt.
"He quit drinking alcohol in spring of last year to try and better himself as a person more than a player," Todd Lewis with NBC Sports and the Golf Channel said.
He also won the Barbasol Championship in 2017.
Murray was No. 58 in the world rankings 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 the U.S. Open next month 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.
He wound up going to three colleges, lastly at Arizona State, and won as a 22-year-old PGA Tour rookie at the Barbasol Championship.
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. He was appointed to the 16-member Player Advisory Council.
"I was there to conduct that winning interview when he won that dramatic tournament in a playoff," Lewis said. "You sensed a feeling of value, of peace [and] joy. That's something that, really, he had not experienced a lot of earlier in his career on the PGA."
“My story is not finished. I think it’s just beginning,” Murray said in Hawaii. “I hope I can inspire a lot of people going forward that have their own issues.”
Murray said he used to drink during tournament weeks as a rookie because he knew he had talent and felt he was invincible. He also brought attention to himself through social media, openly criticizing other players and getting into one social media spat with Kevin Na over Na's reputation as a slow player.
But he felt like he turned the corner when he sought help — letting others fight for him, is how he explained it this year.
“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.”
Peter Malnati played with Murray at Colonial. He offered to go on the CBS telecast Saturday afternoon and immediately broke down trying to talk about him.
“It's a huge loss for all of us on the PGA Tour,” Malnati said. “As much as we want to beat each other, we’re one big family, and we lost one today. It's terrible.”
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This story has been corrected to show that Murray won the Barbasol Championship in 2017, not last year.
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