Grayson Murray’s parents say the PGA Tour winner died of suicide

Grayson Murray’s mother and father stated Sunday their 30-year-old son took his personal life, simply at some point after he withdrew from a PGA Tour occasion. The household requested for privateness and that folks honor Murray by being type to at least one one other.

“If that turns into his legacy, we may ask for nothing else,” Eric and Terry Murray stated in an announcement launched by the PGA Tour.

Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner, spoke in January after profitable the Sony Open in Honolulu about turning the nook in his life, his golf and battles with alcoholism and psychological well being. He died Saturday morning.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story features a dialogue of suicide. In case you or somebody you recognize wants assist, the nationwide suicide and disaster lifeline within the U.S. is obtainable by calling or texting 988. There may be additionally a web-based chat at 988lifeline.org.

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Murray needed to undergo the Korn Ferry Tour to get his PGA Tour card again. After which he birdied the final gap on the Sony Open to get right into a playoff, and made a 40-foot birdie putt on the primary further gap for an emotional win.

“It’s not straightforward,” Murray stated instantly after profitable. “I wished to surrender loads of occasions. Quit on myself. Quit on the sport of golf. Quit on life, at occasions.”

Murray tied for forty third final week within the PGA Championship, which enabled him to carry his place among the many high 60 to earn a spot within the U.S. Open subsequent month at Pinehurst No. 2 in his native North Carolina.

He shot 68 within the opening spherical at Colonial. The following spherical, he was 5 over and coming off three straight bogeys when he withdrew citing an sickness.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan stated he spoke with Murray’s mother and father about halting play at Colonial they usually insisted the golf event proceed.

Monahan flew to Fort Value, Texas, to be with gamers. Lots of them wore black-and-red pins on their caps Sunday in honor of Murray. These are the colours of the Carolina Hurricanes, his favourite NHL staff.

“We now have spent the final 24 hours making an attempt to come back to phrases with the truth that our son is gone. It’s surreal that we not solely must admit it to ourselves, however that we additionally must acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare,” his mother and father shared of their assertion.

“We now have so many questions that don’t have any solutions. However one. Was Grayson beloved? The reply is sure. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his prolonged household, by his pals, by his fellow gamers and — it appears — by lots of you who’re studying this. He was beloved and he might be missed.

“Life wasn’t at all times straightforward for Grayson, and though he took his personal life, we all know he rests peacefully now.”

Grayson was a uncooked expertise after taking over golf at age 8. He received his age division three straight years on the prestigious Junior World Championship in San Diego. However he struggled to slot in in school, going to Wake Forest, East Carolina after which Arizona State.

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

“Phrases can not specific the tragedy of this second,” Kiegel stated in an announcement despatched to The Related Press. “Grayson got here from one thing that was abnormal and made it EXTRAORDINARY. … He burned vibrant for the 30 years he gave us.”

Murray received as a 22-year-old rookie on the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky, and frustration started to set in as he didn’t enhance as rapidly as others whom he routinely beat as amateurs.

He was at all times open about melancholy and nervousness, and his bouts with alcohol. One among his darker moments was on the Sony Open in 2021 when he was suspended for an incident in a Hawaii bar. Murray took to social media to say, “Why was I drunk? As a result of I’m a (expletive) alcoholic that hates every little thing to do with the PGA Tour life and that’s my scapegoat.”

He additionally accused the tour of not giving him correct assist, which the tour denied.

Monahan stated Saturday at Colonial that he known as Murray proper after that posting and subsequently spent loads of time with him.

“I feel one of many parts of his legacy is his resiliency,” Monahan stated. “So that you consider going again to 2017, profitable the Barbasol Championship, going forwards and backwards between the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour. … self-assessing, coming again, changing into in his personal eyes a stronger human being, after which profitable thrice previously 12 months.

“To me, that’s a stage of resiliency that’s extraordinary.”

When he received on the Korn Ferry Tour final 12 months, Murray talked about his mother and father having “been by hell and again principally for the final six years for me combating some psychological stuff.”

“Everybody has their battles,” Murray stated a 12 months in the past. “Generally individuals are capable of disguise them and performance, and typically you’re not. I feel our society now could be getting higher about accepting that it’s OK to not be OK. I’ve embraced that mentality. I’m not ashamed that I’m going by melancholy and nervousness.”

He additionally used social media to achieve out to others coping with comparable points in a sport the place dropping takes place way over profitable.

Murray stated in January after he received the Sony Open that he usually felt like a failure who had wasted his expertise.

“It was a nasty place, however like I stated, you must have braveness,” he stated. “You need to have the willingness to maintain going. Lo and behold, that’s what I did, and I’m right here, and I’m so blessed and I’m grateful.”

He noticed that Sony Open victory — which acquired him into the Masters for the primary time — as the beginning of a brand new chapter. He stated he had turn into a Christian and was engaged to Christiana Ritchie. He stated in January the marriage had been deliberate for late April.

“My story shouldn’t be completed. I feel it’s simply starting,” Murray stated in Hawaii. “I hope I can encourage lots of people going ahead which have their very own points.”

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