Scottie Scheer at Royal Oaks Country Club.
Palm Beach Gardens home, and ended his own life. As they learned of Murray’s death, some players spoke to reporters and others declined. Sixteen-year pro Peter Malnati wanted to talk. He also was not a big star, but he was aable, articulate, and thoughtful—and he happened to be the contestant who had played with Mur- ray the afternoon before. Malnati struggled to collect his thoughts on national television. The full weight and measure of the singular stresses of the game seemed to wobble him at a tender moment. “This is going to be really hard,” Malnati said, his voice shuddering. “We all want to beat each other.Andthensomethinglikethishappensand you realize that we’re all just humans.” There would be a service for Murray in early June, before the Memorial Tournament, at Muirfield Village Golf Club, near Columbus, Ohio. Brad Payne, who serves as a chaplain on the PGA Tour, helped organize it. He had coun- seled Murray through his personal struggles— anxiety, alcohol abuse—and had talked with him about the pervasive sense of loneliness and dread he just couldn’t seem to shake, even as he achieved remarkable success, rising into the top fiftyintheworldafterwinninginHawaiiatthe beginning of 2024. Before the service, Payne also counseled the players who were sched- uled to speak, a group that included Scottie Scheer,thenumberoneplayerintheworld. To read the full story, please subscribe to Texas Monthly .
ON A FRIDAY afternoon last May, late in the second round of the PGA Tour stop in Fort Worth, Grayson Murray pocketed his ball and toldocialshefeltunwell.Hewithdrewfrom the competition, cleared out his locker, and aimed his courtesy vehicle toward the airport. Few spectators noticed. Murray was thirty years old and had won twice on the tour, which is two more times than most professional golfers ever win, but he was not the kind of incandescent star who drew massive galleries and heavy media attention. He had two holes left to play when he hit the last shot of his life. The next day, word filtered through the old, pecan-lined fairways of Colonial Country Club that Murray had flown to Florida, gone to his
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Great Scottie! Shhhhhhh. Quiet Please. Scottie Scheffler, the world’s most dominant golfer, is approaching the toughest part of the course. BY KEVIN ROBBINS
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