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The parents of professional golfer Grayson Murray shared their anguish over the "nightmare" of his loss and their hopes to help others in his memory while speaking on TODAY in their first television interview since his death by suicide last year.
Terry and Eric Murray spoke with Carson Daly in an exclusive interview on Feb. 24 about the qualities that made their son special, his struggles with mental health from a young age, and the foundation they have created in his name.
"He tried to get better," Eric Murray said. "He did everything he could."
Grayson Murray died on May 25, 2024, and his parents wrote in a statement released a day later that the cause was suicide.
"It’s a nightmare that doesn’t stop," his father said on TODAY.
Grayson Murray's death at 30 years old came a day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
The North Carolina native had become a PGA Tour regular, winning two tournaments in his career, including the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii. He also earned an invitation to the prestigious Masters tournament in Georgia.
Along the way, Grayson Murray had publicly shared his struggles with alcoholism and gambling. He went to rehab in 2021 for alcohol and also sought help with anxiety and depression.
The isolation of being a professional golfer traveling from event to event while battling mental health issues led to destructive behavior. Grayson Murray estimated he lost more than $400,000 from gambling in 2017, according to Golf Digest.
"He would go and drink and gamble — that was tough for him out on the road," Terry Murray said.
"We’re not saying anything that Grayson hasn’t said," Eric Murray said. "He’s told this story, and in our eyes he’s a hero for telling it."
Grayson Murray appeared to be turning a corner after the win in Hawaii, where he spoke about overcoming the difficulties in his life.
"I wanted to give up a lot of times," he said after the victory. "Give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times. Just persevere."
However, his mental health took a turn after the win in Hawaii.
"It was hard," Terry Murray said of the personal highs and lows her son experienced during his career. "He would put on a happy face out on the road. Our house became his safe haven. If he was depressed, he would go in his room, and he wouldn’t come out for two and three days."
"He could get in those deep tunnels or dark holes," his father said.
Grayson Murray broke down at one point while visiting his parents.
"We sat on the sofa, and we both just sat there and cried," Eric Murray said. "And I was holding him like a baby. He was talking about how hard it was physically and emotionally to keep doing what he’s doing."
Eric Murray suggested Grayson should leave the PGA Tour to focus on his health.
"I actually asked him to do that," he said. "But Grayson loved golf, and there’s no place on Earth that he was happier than on the golf course. But at the same time, it was very difficult."
His parents said Grayson Murray wanted to be a professional golfer since he first smacked a golf ball at 7 years old.
"He had never hit a golf ball in his life," Eric Murray said. "They were just flying high and straight."
By the time he was a teen, he became just the second player after Tiger Woods to win the Junior World tournament three straight times. However, his anxiety grew more acute in conjunction with his success on the golf course.
Grayson Murray suffered a mental health episode that prompted him to walk off the course at the 2014 Southern Amateur tournament and led to a diagnosis of social anxiety, according to Golf Digest. He then suffered a concussion when he fell off his bike that same year while riding from a workout at Arizona State University.
"He had been diagnosed with social anxiety, and then he had a concussion on top of that," Eric Murray said. "So Grayson had some issues that were lingering on and on, and that’s when he turned pro."
His self-destructive struggles as a professional were offset by a heart of gold.
"He was a joy to be around," Terry Murray said. "He was always up to something, making us laugh."
Following his death, messages poured in from strangers and fellow golfers about kind acts Grayson Murray had done for them. He was known on tour for sending uplifting text messages to players who were struggling, according to Golf Digest.
"Some of the comments were, 'Grayson was fiercely loyal, yet tremendously kind,'" his mother said. "And then from some of the players, 'He did some things for me that most other golfers on the tour would not even consider.'"
Fellow PGA golfer Peter Malnati broke down in tears during an interview with CBS Sports following Grayson Murray's death.
“It’s just a really hard day, because you look at Grayson and you see in him 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,” he said. “It’s just so sad.”
He once bought a car for a family after visiting a child with cancer whose parents were having transportation issues, according to his mother.
"He was like that from the time he was this high," Eric Murray said. "He used to tell me, 'If I can just help one person, that it was worth it.'"
The phrase "be kind to one another" is written on Grayson Murray's gravestone plate.
"So we have lived by that," Terry Murray said.
In a journal his parents later found, he had written about his desire to help others struggling with mental health by creating a foundation in his name.
"He actually wrote a plan," his mother said.
His parents have now made the Grayson Murray Foundation a reality, with a mission of creating awareness and support around mental health and addiction.
"I think he would be proud that we’re trying to carry on what he just didn’t have time himself to follow through with," Terry Murray said.
In early January, Terry and Eric Murray traveled to Hawaii for the one-year anniversary of Grayson's victory at the Sony Open in Honolulu. A group of PGA Tour players gathered for a celebration of life ceremony to remember him.
"He was a kind, generous person," his father said at the event. "He would help anybody in need, so we hope people remember him that way, and we hope the foundation will carry his legacy on."
It became a moment Terry and Eric Murray will never forget.
"As we were throwing the petals in the ocean, two white doves flew by," Terry Murray told Carson. "So we knew it was a sign that Grayson was right there with us."
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