Grayson Murray Dies at 30: PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Pro Golfers React to 'Huge Loss for All of Us'

After professional golfer Grayson Murray died this weekend following his second-round wthdrawal in the Charles Schwab Challenge, there was immediate reaction from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and other competitors Saturday at Colonial Country Club and beyond.

Monahan sat down with Amanda Balionis of CBS Sports to discuss the tragic situation shortly after he arrived in Fort Worth, Texas.  

"There's a brotherhood out here," Monahan said. "There's a family out here. And I just wanted to be here for our players, our caddies, our families that are here. This is a close-knit community out on the PGA Tour, and to be in the locker room and to see the devastation on the faces of every player that's coming in is really difficult to see and really just profound." 4444444

Monahan added that Murray, 30, was a remarkable player, but also was "a very courageous person" for the ways he worked toward bettering his life after battling anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse.

Players at the Charles Schwab Challenge were alerted of Murray's death as they finished the third round. Because of the timing, many of them were finding out about the news after the round and reacting in the moment 

"It was a huge shock," Webb Simpson, who has known Murray since Murray was a kid, said on CBS Sports. "My heart sank. I've had a junior tournament for 14 years now -- the Webb Simpson Challenge -- he was the first ever winner. I remember that day like it was yesterday when he got the trophy. I knew he was going to be a great player from Day 1.

"I just played with him at Charlotte the first two days. We had a great time together. His game looked good. I just hate it. I hate it so much. I've gotten to know him even better this year -- we shared a meal together at Pebble Beach with his fiancee. I know she's hurting and everyone associated with Grayson Murray is hurting. I know that he came to faith, placed his faith in Jesus Christ this year, I think it was. I hate it, I miss him, but I'm thankful that he was in the place he was in with his faith before this morning happened."

Peter Malnati, who played with Murray over the first two rounds at Colonial, wept during his interview.

"I didn't know Grayson all that well, but I spent the last two days with him," Malnati  said. "It's funny, we get so worked up out here about a bad break here or a good break there. We're so competitive. We're so competitive out here. We all want to beat each other. Then something like this happens, and you realize, 'We're all just humans.' 

It's a really hard day because you look at Grayson and you see someone who has visibly, outwardly struggled in the past, and he's been open about it. And you see him get his life back to a place where he's feeling good about things. It's just so sad. I was with him yesterday. He's playing great! His game is so good! He's so good at golf."

Malnati then told a story about how Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas -- father of Bill Haas and former coach of Simpson and Will Zalatoris -- once told him that Murray was the most talented player to ever step foot on the Wake Forest campus.

"It's a huge loss for all of us on the PGA Tour, it's a huge loss for our fans," Malnati said. "In a time like this you realize that as much as we want to beat each other and as much as we want to be competitive, we're one big family. And we lost one today, and that's terrible." 

Others like Justin Thomas, Luke Donald and Bubba Watson shared some of their thoughts via social media.

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