Weekend Wrap: Riley Takes Colonial As PGA Tour Mourns Grayson Murray
Notes from the golf world, including U.S. Open and The Open qualifying news.
This time Davis Riley got the best of Scottie Scheffler.
Carving apart the remodeled Colonial Country Club in a performance out of no where—at least based on the former Alabama star’s stagnant 2024 form—Riley opened up a lead after 36 and ultimately cruised to a five-stroke win.
Besides dealing with a toughened-but-still-short-by-modern-standards Colonial and Sunday’s hot winds, Riley needed to stave off the World No. 1 and a player who defeated him 3 & 2 in the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur. Throw in the dreaded new-green firmness and demanding tee shots that brought back shades of old Colonial, and Riley’s impressive first official PGA Tour win as an individual earned him a spot on the club’s famed wall of champions.
“I told my caddie before the round, I just want to get lost in the process of it, I want to just be so focused on what I'm doing,” Riley said. “The process I'm going through, picking targets, being really detailed-oriented, I just wanted to get lost in that and then show up on 16 and 17 and be right where I wanted to be.”
Little suggested Riley would contend this week, much less dominate on a demanding course in holding off three major winners. (Riley did finish T4 two years ago in his Schwab debut.) He started the week ranked 250th in the world and 151st in the FedExCup. He’s missed seven of 14 cuts in 2024. And Davis had not enjoyed top 20 finish since a T8 at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“With the wind the way it was, the firmness of the greens, how it was picking up, I knew it was going to be a tough finish, and Scottie, he was starting to hit some really good golf shots and I knew he could make a push, so I just tried to wear out the fairways and greens and try to get a couple opportunities and roll some good putts and if they went in, great, if not, I knew pars were good coming in.”
Riley hit 32 of 56 fairways, averaged 312.7 on the measuring holes, and 299.3 on all drives. He hit 49 of 72 greens yet still gained 8.3 strokes on approach play while gaining 5.6 strokes putting on 314’2” of putts. He led the field in birdies (21) and strokes gained tee-to-green (11.416). Riley played Colonial’s difficult par 3’s in four-under-par.
In addition to the $1.638 million first-place check, he will get to enjoy the Schwab-era tradition of awarding the winner a vintage car.
In 2024 the winner received a 1975 Corvette Stingray.
“It was funny, I got in there, all of the stuff, the keys and the speedometer and all that, that was a little before my time,” Riley said. “So I'll probably have to get in there and try to learn my way around it.
“I'm certainly looking forward to driving that thing around.”
Keegan Bradley (T2/-9) finished runner-up for the 11th time in his Tour career and second time this season, while Masters champion Scheffler (T2/-9) struggled with the driver Sunday en route to his first over-par final round.
This was Scheffler’s ninth career runner-up finish and 11th top-10 of the season.
Collin Morikawa closed with a 68 to finish fourth and continue his steady form heading toward Pinehurst and the U.S. Open in three weeks.
The Schwab at Colonial kicks off a tough stretch of old-school championship tests leading into the U.S. Open. Up next: Hamilton hosts the RBC Canadian followed by the Memorial in a new U.S. Open-eve slot.
Grayson Murray 1993-2024
Grayson Murray, who returned to the PGA Tour this year after a career detour, took his life Friday after competing in the Charles Schwab Challenge. The 30-year-old winner of this year’s Sony Open withdrew after 16 holes Friday citing illness. His death was announced midway through Saturday’s third round of play and after planning to halt play, the Murray family asked PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan to continue the tournament.
“I am at a loss for words,” Monahan said in a statement to players. “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.
“I reached out to Grayson’s parents to offer our deepest condolences, and during that conversation, they asked that we continue with tournament play. They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so. As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes.“
As players processed the shock surrounding Murray’s death amid his career revival and having turned to faith in battling addiction and depression, his parents Eric and Terry bravely issued a statement Sunday morning while dealing with unimaginable grief.
“We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare. We have so many questions that have no answers. But one.
“Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and - it seems - by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.
“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. Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy, and please honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else. Thank you.”
Players paid tribute to Murray on social media and on the course Sunday by wearing red or black lapel pins, the colors of his beloved Carolina Hurricanes.
In recalling his recent career resurgence, the AP’s Doug Ferguson wrote:
Murray had to go through the Korn Ferry Tour to get his PGA Tour card back. And then he birdied the last hole at t
he Sony Open to get into a playoff, and made a 40-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole for an emotional win.
Murray tied for 43rd last week in the PGA Championship, which enabled him to hold his position among the top 60 to earn a spot in the U.S. Open next month at Pinehurst No. 2 in his native North Carolina.
Elsewhere…
Nacho Elvira captured his second DP World Tour title at the Soudal Open with a one-stroke win over Niklas Nørgaard, Romain Langasque and Thomas Pieters. “My 2-iron cracked in the warm-up and I needed it a bit today,” said a relieved Elvira. “I was quite nervous because I wasn’t hitting it off the tee well. It was all heart the last few holes because I knew I had a couple of driving holes I wasn’t comfortable with.” The 37-year-old from Spain attended Texas A&M where he was an All-American. He entered the week ranked 217th in the world. One other notable finish: Matthew Jordan of Hoylake finished T4.
Richard Bland won the Senior PGA Championship by three strokes after a final round 63. The longtime European Tour player-turned-LIV-member making his first Champions and senior major start. However, the win will not earn Bland a Champions Tour exemption, reports Bob Harig.
Harry Higgs won his second consecutive Korn Ferry Tour event and offered a lovely tribute to Grayson Murray.
Ohio State senior Adam Wallin holds a two-stroke lead with 18 holes to play in the NCAA Men’s Individual Championship at La Costa. Ben James (Virginia) and Karl Vilips (Stanford) are tied for second while Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, Illinois’ Max Herendeen, and Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai are three back heading into Monday’s conclusion of stroke play. The individual winner receives invitations to the 2024 U.S. Open and 2025 Masters.
Illinois surged to a six-stroke lead over Virginia in team qualifying for match play. Vanderbilt is 11 back and Florida State sits 12 back. Monday’s final round of individual stroke play will tee off at 10:45 a.m. PT with Golf Channel and Peacock live coverage of the individual and team competition starting at 3 p.m. PT.
Keiran Vincent won the Sunshine Tour’s KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am by four. And while I know The Quad audience is familiar with the old saying, at the risk of repetition, just a friendly reminder that no career in professional golf is said to be complete without a win in the KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am. Well done, Keiran!
This And That
Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel announced that Detective Bryan Gillis received “corrective action” for failing to switch on his body camera to record the “contact” that ultimately led to Scottie Scheffler’s arrest. The charges remain in place against Scheffler who is still scheduled for court on Monday, June 3rd. "We are all looking to move forward," Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "But we have to respect the legal process. And that's what we are going to do. We are going to let that play out.” Scheffler’s attorney Steve Romines reiterated that he is prepared to litigate the case, saying, “It will either be dismissed or it will go to trial.” Video was released from two points (here and here) showing the arrest but not at the point of contention that led to the charges. The video confirms a messy scene outside Valhalla’s front gate created by the road closure and buses trying to navigate the tight entrance. But also notable: there was no westbound traffic due to the road closure, one that led to the reckless driving charge against Scheffler.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudia Arabia is “weighing” a reorganization of leadership running its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund “that could see managers assume some internal responsibilities from governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, a.k.a. His Excellency. It seems the Crown Prince’s NEOM project and Vision 2030 is part of the problem, as are Al-Rumayyan’s many board seats and not giving Pat Perez millions to buy more Jordans. (Reuters/Pesha Magid, Rachna Uppal, Alexander Cornwell).
First U.S. Open Qualifiers In The Books
With Golf’s Longest Day still a week away, the initial qualifiers in Japan, England and Dallas are in the books. Those who will be headed to Pinehurst include some names straight out of 2009 and even one who has retired from touring golf (Robert Rock). Congrats to all on making it to the U.S. Open:
And in a tradition unlike any other, a robust 26 retired or WD’d without completing the day at lovely Walton Heath.
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