Koutroumpis – Remembering the first and last time Grayson Murray played the UNC Health Championship

Peter Koutroumpis (@pksport) [email protected] RALEIGH, NC – I never expected that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to interview PGA Tour pro and local Grayson Murray again. Ever. Murray, 30, was found dead on Saturday morning [...]

The post Koutroumpis – Remembering the first and last time Grayson Murray played the UNC Health Championship appeared first on Triangle Sports Network.

Peter Koutroumpis (@pksport)

[email protected]

RALEIGH, NC – I never expected that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to interview PGA Tour pro and local Grayson Murray again.

Ever.

Murray, 30, was found dead on Saturday morning following his withdrawal from the Charles Schwab Challenge played at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

I found out by perusing my feed on X (formerly Twitter) when I came across the Tour’s post:

“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,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan was quoted in a prepared statement.

“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.”

Many were and are still in shock, now a few days since the news broke about his unexpected passing – taking his own life as noted by his parents in a statement released by the Tour on Sunday.

“We would like to thank the PGA Tour and the entire world of Golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.”

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Profile – Grayson Murray – PGA Tour

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Covering the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship, formerly the Rex Hospital Open, since 2010, I’ve known of and watched Grayson pursue the dream of and following the tumultuous journey of becoming and being a professional golfer.

He experienced the grind of it all since he was a junior, successful in winning tournament championships, and while in high school, making his presence known back in 2010, at the age of 16, at what was then TPC Wakefield Plantation, that he could play with the pros.

As the 2010 Rex Hospital Open Junior Invitational winner, Grayson earned a spot in that year’s field at the  Korn Ferry Tour (then Web.com Tour) Rex Hospital Open.

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

The most memorable shot I watched him make during that tournament was during second-round play on the par-5 sixth hole.

He lined up his second shot, a lengthy one – 200-yards-plus out – from the left-side fairway/rough line, and wired his ball onto the green.

He then one-putted it in for eagle on his way to carding a 66, and making the cut to play into the weekend.

In doing so, he became the third-youngest competitor to make the cut in a Tour event – 16 years, 7 months, 20 days, to be exact.

He finished T-55 (-2).

Thus started the upward and eventual roller coaster ride of a career, that I and many others went on with him for the next 14 years.

Until Saturday.

Numerous voice memo transcripts I have with him are overwhelming to review – they include the many high and low moments of his career.

Such is a professional golfer’s path.

It’s one that every player on Tour will talk about, if willing, but can never reveal so many of the finite details.

There is just so much going on – on the golf course, during 18 holes, over four days, each week, every month, and all year – let alone what’s going on off the course.

As many punches Grayson took, in his mind, not winning as much as he knew he could and wanted to, he also continued to push himself and progress to places he probably didn’t think he could.

Regardless of the dark spaces he ventured into, as noted by many of his appeals and references to mental health and well-being and alcohol addiction he lived with, he made sure he worked to represent himself as a professional.

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

In my experience with him, he never backed away from or avoided an interview request, be it following a good or bad round or tournament.

Did he have a temper?

Absolutely.

But who hasn’t lost their cool playing golf at one point or another, missing a pitch shot that could have left you a better opportunity for an up-and-down and eventual putt for par.

It’s the ramifications of such action that you have to live with.

As the saying goes, ‘the course giveth and the course taketh away’.

That’s what happened to Grayson at last year’s 2023 UNC Health Championship played at Raleigh Country Club.

With a lofty five-stroke lead during the final round of play, a mishit pull on his second shot on the par-five 12th hole ended in a score of double-bogey 7.

A few subsequent three-putts and some strong play by those chasing the lead eventually pulled Grayson back level with them.

He finished the round with a long birdie putt, an 18-footer, and T2 overall at -12.

Even though he fell one stroke short to miss the eventual playoff and get a win in front of his friends and family, his attitude was as positive as it could be.

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

“It’s tough to finish off golf tournaments at times,” he said afterward.

“Holding the trophy would have been nice for them. It’s just a game. I’m happy where my game’s at. It’s all hindsight. If we all knew what was going to happen, we wouldn’t do it. Right? You just fight for every point when you can’t win out here, and that’s what I did out here with the last putt.

“You know, for everyone, there’s a learning curve that goes along with winning and sometimes you’ve got to take the blows before you can enjoy the wins. I think the guys who have learned to win from their mistakes coming down the stretch like I had today, are the ones that can can rebound quicker and get back on that pedestal.”

Those words from Grayson would resonate as he went on to win six KFT starts later in mid-Septebmer at the Simmons Bank Open in Tennessee, and eventually he got the big win at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in January.

He appeared to be doing exactly what he had been talking about doing all along on the course.

It appeared that he had hit that upward trajectory with his play – talking points that I could refer to when the opportunity to ask him about his game would arise next.

Unknowingly, the 2023 UNC Health Championship was the last event I would have the opportunity to interact with Grayson on Tour…and ever.

No more opportunities to talk about his game or anything else.

No more opportunities to ask him how he was doing, his family, or about his life away from the course.

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

Grayson knew what he wanted to say when asked a question, and never walked back on anything.

His openness in talking about his struggles with alcohol addiction and mental health issues were specific and targeted – pushing the Tour to look at those issues more seriously for players like him and others.

Even with wins, prize money, recognition, and increased visibility – it seems that wasn’t necessarily what he needed.

What he needed, unfortunately, was something he hadn’t or still couldn’t find to provide enough relief to continue living.

Though I nor anyone else will hear his words in person again, what Grayson stood for and represented, the good and the bad, will provide us examples to learn from.

Grayson wasn’t just a golfer, but someone we all wanted to talk to, and who was so willing to share himself with others.

Rest in peace Grayson, and know that you did make an impact for all of us to feel emotionally and learn from – both on and off the course.

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The post Koutroumpis – Remembering the first and last time Grayson Murray played the UNC Health Championship appeared first on Triangle Sports Network.