Seven months ago, Grayson Murray was injured in a severe scooter accident, forcing him to withdraw from a PGA Tour event in Bermuda.
On Sunday in Kansas City, Missouri, Murray found himself hoisting a trophy for the first time in six years after winning the 2023 AdventHealth Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour. He did so despite a double-bogey 7 on the 18 hole.
Murray put himself in great position after a 64 on Saturday. He opened that round with three straight birdies, had another at 12 and then put his foot on the gas, closing with birdies on Nos. 15 through 18.
On Sunday, Murray birdied Nos. 1, 7 and 10 before an eagle on No. 13. He had another birdie on 16 before parring the 17th. With just one bogey through 71 holes, Murray stumbled a bit on the par-5 closing hole with a double but shot a 68 to get to 19 under and hold off Rico Hoey and Wilson Furr by a shot.
“It hasn’t really sunk in,” Murray said. “Six years is a long drought, far longer than I wanted. Sometimes your highs are high out here and your lows are low. It’s a very humbling sport. I’ve been working really hard, and this is a testament to the hard work.
“My parents have been through hell and back basically for the last six years with me fighting some mental stuff. It’s not easy on me, and the people around me that love me, they don’t like to see me down. They’ve been my No. 1 supporters. There’s a few friends as well that have been there, and it makes these moments a lot more special when you can share it with them.”
The win was Murray’s second on the Korn Ferry Tour. He also won as a rookie on the PGA Tour at the 2016 Barbasol Championship.
Murray made news off the course for getting into Twitter spats with other pros, particularly Kevin Na. Murray’s scooter accident in Bermuda didn’t lead to any broken bones but he needed 50 stitches — 25 stitches on his face, 10 on his leg and others on various parts of his body.
With this win under his belt, he said he may stick it on on the Korn Ferry Tour for now.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what I focus on, because I think maybe my best chance would be to just stay out here and play on this tour since there’s 30 cards given this year instead of 25,” said Murray. “But we’ll see. I’m going to enjoy this one first.”
