World No 1 Scottie Scheffler led the tributes to Grayson Murray after the shock death of the two-time PGA Tour winner, a day after he pulled out of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas.
The 30-year-old withdrew with two holes remaining of Friday’s second round, citing illness and his death was announced by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who said Murray’s parents had asked for the event in Fort Worth to continue after speaking to them.
Scheffler, who moved into second place in the tournament on 14-under after a third-round 66, said: “Obviously, the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet, but I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them.
“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.
“There’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I’m thinking about his family.”
In January, Murray – after his last victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii – spoke about his battles with anxiety and depression and revealed he had sought treatment in the past few years for alcohol abuse but had been sober for several months.
Three years ago he posted on social media he felt the Tour did not do enough to assist players who dealt with illnesses such as his.
“When Grayson said that, I called him right away,” Monahan said on Saturday. “Over the last several years I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here.
“I’m devastated by Grayson’s loss. The conversations I had with him, particularly the last year, I learned an awful lot from him. He was very open and transparent with me.
“We don’t know the circumstances around Grayson’s passing. My conversations with Grayson in the area of mental health… we’re always challenging ourselves to make certain that we’re on the front edge of being able to provide the support that we can for everybody out here.
“These are some of the best athletes in the world. They think they’re, in many respects, invincible.
“One of the things I think back about Grayson’s openness is he taught us all a lesson on that front and that’s something I’ll never forget.”
