Grayson Murray worked hard to get back to the PGA Tour winner’s circle.
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More than two years ago, when he took time away from the PGA Tour, Grayson Murray would have been an afterthought to claim the 2024 Sony Open title
After a wayward tee shot on the 72nd hole, with his playing partner looking to make birdie for the win, Grayson Murray may have been an afterthought to claim the 2024 Sony Open title.
After another wayward tee shot on the first playoff hole, one that clipped a tree and wasn’t even picked up by Shotlink, Grayson Murray may have been an afterthought to claim the 2024 Sony Open title.
But with 106 yards to the flag for his third shot, and both his opponents, Keegan Bradley and Ben An, in trouble around the green, Murray’s caddie, Jay Green, pressed his man for some motivation.
“Show me something,” Green told Murray. It took another shot for Murray to follow through, but boy did he ever show his caddie what he needed to.
After pulling to the wedge some 39 feet left of the hole, Murray drained the putt for birdie and then watched as both Bradley and An missed their shorter putts to match, An from just four feet, giving him the Sony Open title.
“A lot of hard work pays off,” Murray said when asked about Green’s comment. “It’s not easy, you know. I want to give up a lot of times, give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times. Just persevere, and when you get tired of fighting let someone else fight for you. That’s what happened.”
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It’s Murray’s second PGA Tour title after the 2017 Barbasol Championship, but this comes with far more benefits. He’s into the Masters for the first time in his career, as well as the Players, PGA Championship and the seven remaining Signature events on the PGA Tour season.
“I knew today was not going to change my life,” Murray said. “My fiancée changed my life, Jesus Christ changed my life. Today wasn’t going to change my life, but it did change my career a little bit, and I’m excited.”
As unlikely as the circumstances were surrounding how Murray snatched the tournament from as many as four other players who were at one point tied for the lead Sunday, him even being in Hawaii for the event was more improbable.
He entered 2023 with his PGA Tour status in question. He took a hiatus from the game in 2021 as he entered a treatment facility for help with alcohol. He then had a start-and-stop year in 2022 before a return to form in 2023. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour to re-secure his status for 2024 and notched two top-10s on the PGA Tour.
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GOLF’s James Colgan recounted how Murray battled back to this week when he entered the final round Sunday at Waialae in a share of the lead with Bradley.
His final round was flat for much of the day, just picking up two birdies at 9 and 10, the rest pars until he got to 18. Not exactly the firepower needed to emerge from a crowded leaderboard on a day when contenders were posting a 61 and several 63s and 64s.
He blew his drive right at the par-5 but laid up in the fairway. From 78 yards, he stuffed his third inside three feet and converted to tie Bradley and An at 17 under.
His drive in the playoff, however, clipped a tree not far off the tee. Somehow, it made it past the majority of the palm trees and settled in the rough, far enough to give him an angle for the layup.
It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t matter. Murray had worked hard to get to this point. It only made sense he got past one last obstacle before getting back into the PGA Tour winner’s circle.
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