LOS ANGELES: Davis Riley had a four-shot lead over surging Masters champion Scottie Scheffler on Saturday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where PGA Tour pros were stunned to learn that 30-year-old colleague Grayson Murray had died.
The US PGA Tour said in a statement that Murray, who withdrew from the event at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, had died suddenly on Saturday morning. A cause of death was not immediately known, and tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Murray´s parents had urged officials to continue competition.
“Obviously the news hasn´t really sunk in quite yet, but I´m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them,” Scheffler said. “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 there´s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is -- but I´m thinking about his family.”
Riley, ranked 250th in the world and chasing a second US PGA Tour title, pushed his two-stroke overnight lead to four with a four-under par 66 that left him at 14-under 196. Riley had five birdies on the front nine before back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th slowed his progress, but he bounced back with a birdie at the par-three 16th -- where he landed his tee shot within four feet of the pin -- to plump his cushion.
“I got off to a hot start,” said Riley, whose previous title came alongside Nick Hardy in the 2023 Zurich Classic two-man team event. “I was just playing some really solid golf, hitting a lot of fairways and greens, and got the putter going a little bit.