Saturday, May 25th was a sad day on the PGA tour, after two time champion Grayson Murray was found dead inside his home. Just a day earlier, Murray was playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, fighting for a chance to contend on Sunday. Unfortunately, Murray had to withdraw from the tournament after 16 holes on Friday, citing an illness that was preventing him from playing to his best ability. He was found on Saturday Morning, unresponsive, and the entire golf world was put on pause. 

Following the news of his death, PGA tour commissioner Jay Monahan immediately spoke with Murray’s parents, asking for guidance on how to proceed the situation. Both his mother and father were adamant that the tour continued the tournament.

Grayson Murray earned his tour card in 2017, bursting on to the scene winning the 2017 Barbasol Championship with a phenomenal score of -21. During his career, Murray was very vocal about his mental health issues and problems with alcohol abuse, urging other players and people to speak out about it and to not be afraid to ask for help. 

In January, Murray had announced his eight month anniversary of being sober, and continued to urge those in need to find help. He had just recently been engaged to his fiancee Christiana Ritchie, and was planning to marry her in the coming months. The following day after the news, Murray’s parents confirmed that he had passed away from suicide, leading to an outpour of support from people all around the Golf community. 

Julian Bonk ‘26, said when he saw the news for the first time “It was very upsetting that the sports world had to endure such a tragic event”. 

The tournament continued on, but was overshadowed by the terrible news of Murray’s death. Mental Health continues to increase in importance among athletes, as more and more have began to come out and speak about it. It is important that no athlete, celebrity, or every day citizen should feel afraid to ask for help if they need it.