DUBLIN, Ohio — Memorial Park, adjacent to the first tee at Muirfield Village Golf Club, is a place of quiet celebration, filled with bronze plaques extolling the contributions of figures throughout golf history who have been honored at the Memorial Tournament.
On Tuesday morning, Memorial Park was a place of somber reflection as PGA Tour players, caddies, Memorial and tour officials and others in the golf business remembered the life of Grayson Murray.
In a poignant and sometimes teary ceremony, Murray, who ended his own life on May 25 at the age of 30 to shock the game of golf as well as the sports world at large, was remembered for his “fire, kindness, generosity” and his “grace.”
A majority of the players in the 73-man field attended the program that began at 8:30 a.m. local time and lasted 40 minutes. Memorial Tournament founder and host Jack Nicklaus, his wife Barbara and several members of the Nicklaus family also paid their respects. A photo of Murray was displayed along with his golf bag and a large arrangement of flowers decorated the backdrop.
Brad Payne, who serves as chaplain for the PGA Tour, presided, noting at one point in his brief introductory speech that “all of us carry a heavy heart and will for some time to come.”
A teary-eyed Jay Monahan, the tour commissioner, spoke of how Murray was one of the first people he heard from, via text, last summer after Monahan returned from his own personal leave to address physical and mental health challenges. He said that Murray’s death “is a profound loss for the PGA Tour.”
Also speaking were Jay Green, Murray’s caddie, and players Russell Henley and Scottie Scheffler, who also broke down in tears, referring to Murray several times as “a sweet man.” Henley also read a long message from Webb Simpson, who had known his fellow Raleigh, N.C., native since Murray was 8 years old.