Despite roaring into contention at the Charles Schwab Challenge Scottie Scheffler’s immediate thoughts were with the family of the late Grayson Murray.
Murray withdrew from the tournament with two holes remaining of Friday’s second round citing illness but the PGA Tour announced on Saturday his shock death aged just 30.
The family of Murray who had his battles with alcoholism and depression encouraged the tournament to continue despite the devastating news.
“Yeah, obviously, the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet,” Scheffler said. “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, and, yeah, really just, there’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I’m thinking about his family.”
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan also said in a statement:
“We were devastated to learn—and are heartbroken to share—that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words,” Monahan wrote. “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.
“I reached out to Grayson’s parents to offer our deepest condolences, and during that conversation, they asked that we continue with tournament play.
“They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so. As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes.”
Peter Malnati broke down in tears while discussing the death of Murray whom he played the first two rounds with at Colonial CC.
Speaking to CBS Sports, Malnati gave an emotional interview.
“This is gonna be really hard,” he began. “I didn’t know Grayson all that well, but I spent the last few days with him. It’s so funny… we get so worked up out here about a bad break here or a good break there. You know, we’re so competitive, so competitive out here. We all want to beat each other. And then something like this happens and you realise we’re all just humans.
“This is just a really, really hard day because you look at Grayson and you see in him someone who has visibly, outwardly struggled in the past, and he’s been open about it. And you see him get his life back to a place where he’s feeling good about things. It’s just so sad.”