PGA Tour Pro withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge Challenge on May 24, citing uneasiness. Hours after that, on Saturday he passed away. His parents Eric and Terry Murray confirmed that he died by suicide. “Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now,” they said. A lot of the players paid their tributes to him. PGA Tour golfers even wore red and black ribbons at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge to honor the 30-year-old golfer.

A few weeks later, Harry Higgs won at the Visit Knoxville Open, but instead of giving a winning speech, he paid his regards to Murray and stated the importance of being there for one another. “One thing that I thought of last night, especially laying in bed, is I would challenge everybody here—and I’m going to do this myself as well—each day to say something nice to someone you love. And also, make it a point to say something nice to somebody you do not even know,” he concluded his speech. 

Five months have passed, however, Higgs believes that the Tour players are still reluctant to check on each other. He appeared in the latest episode of the No Laying Up Podcast. During the conversation, he brought up the loss of Murray, and being disappointed, stated, “We need to do a much better job of taking care of ourselves and taking care of our one another.” The game of golf is so competitive, that one often gets very lonely. Additionally, the trauma of not being able to make certain putts and shots can also have a deep impact on the players. 

“If you throw in results and money and statues and all this other stuff that we in theory play for, that can become burdensome,” he added to the context. According to him, Grayson Murray has battled mental illness for decades and still managed to bag two victories on the PGA Tour, which is remarkable for him.

After the 2024 US Open, when Rory McIlroy missed the final 3-foot putt, he was devastated. He took a small break from the Tour, missing the next couple of events including the Travelers Championship because he needed to recuperate from what had happened. He remarked the final round was the “toughest” he has “had in nearly 17 years as a professional golfer.” Golf is a physical sport, we all know it. This goes to prove that it is equally a mental sport as well.

Nonetheless, the way Murray’s story ended was rather sad; instead, if he had had the support, maybe today things would have been different. Higgs’s remarks go to show that everyone, even the pros needs to do better at taking care of each other since they all truly go through the same thing every week. 

Did Grayson Murray ever seek help?

Grayson Murray had always been pretty transparent about his mental health struggles and alcoholism and said he wasn’t ashamed of his depression and anxiety. He even stated that during the tournament, things got very lonely, and he would sit in his hotel room, and drink alcohol all by himself. That was what turned him into an alcoholic. In 2021, he took to his social media and stated that the PGA Tour life was nothing but a scapegoat.

However, things changed in 2022 when he got into a motorcycle crash during the Bermuda Championship. He had to undergo fifty stitches, most of which were on his face. “I should have died. If I didn’t have my helmet on, I probably would have died. It should have been my rock bottom, but I had to keep going,” he confessed. He then got into rehab for a month, to turn his life around for good. He wanted to inspire others with his story, and in a way he did.

Mental health is important. Don’t forget to check on everyone around you. What are your thoughts on Harry Higgs’s remarks?