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“We are devastated to learn and heartbroken to share that PGA TOUR player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “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.”
Commissioner Monahan added, “I reached out to Grayson’s parents to offer our deepest condolences. They asked that we continue with tournament play, as Grayson would have wanted. We will respect their wishes, as difficult as it will be.”
Grief counselors were made available at the venues for this week’s PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour events. Commissioner Monahan, who traveled from TOUR headquarters in Florida to the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, said he was “devastated” by the loss.
Grayson’s parents, Eric and Terry Murray, said in a statement Sunday that the cause of death was suicide.
“Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes,” his parents wrote. “By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players, and many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.”
Murray, 30, was a standout golfer from his youth. He won three consecutive Callaway Junior World Championships (2006-08) and was the top-ranked golfer in his age group. He made his first cut on the Korn Ferry Tour at age 16, becoming the second-youngest player ever to do so. After stints at Wake Forest University, East Carolina University, and Arizona State University, he got his break in 2016 with a sponsor exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour event near his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. He finished in the top 10 at that event, the Rex Hospital Open, which qualified him for another start. Another top 10 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am further boosted his career. He concluded his season with a victory at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, finishing second on the Korn Ferry Tour money list and earning full status on the PGA TOUR for the 2016-17 season. The win came a week before his 23rd birthday.
Murray quickly established himself on golf’s biggest stage as a rookie. He won the 2017 Barbasol Championship at 23 years old. His final-round 68 secured a one-shot victory and a two-year exemption through the 2019 PGA TOUR season. He finished 66th in the FedExCup and earned nearly $1.5 million.
Grayson struggled for the next few seasons on the PGA TOUR. In 2023, he rediscovered his form on the Korn Ferry Tour, winning the Advent Health Championship in Kansas City and the Simmons Bank Open outside Nashville. He finished fourth on that tour’s points list, earning a spot back on the PGA TOUR for the following season.
Murray opened the 2024 season with a playoff victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He made a clutch up-and-down on the 72nd hole for a birdie to force a playoff, then sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to defeat Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley. He reached a career-high 46th in the Official World Golf Ranking after that victory.