The journey of Grayson Murray has been turbulent and filled with regrettable moments which makes his victory at the Sony Open all the more miraculous. Grayson emotionally reveals the depths of his alcoholism and his road to finding sobriety and ultimately this discussion is between two people who share a disease, and their willingness to share their personal challenges is worth everyone’s time.
Welcome into this five clubs conversation I’m Gary Williams when you look every single week on the PGA tour everybody who wins is a story they’re all good stories whether it’s Roy marroy or Lee Hodges and everybody in between and if you look at the way this year has
Started and the people who have won and obviously Nick Dunlap is particularly unusual but you know who else is Grayson Murray Grayson Murray is somebody who a year ago probably was hopeless I know the feeling because he had something that was taking over his life and something that even though he thought
Maybe he could control he had no control over it and that is the disease of alcoholism we’re going to talk about his win at the Sony Open but we’re going to talk about how he got there the road back to feeling like there’s Faith and Hope in your life his conversation is Next I think this is only a grip it’s only my sole connection to this it’s only in my hands on every single shot it’s an extra 2 yards of carry when it matters Most yeah only a grip mine are only Golf Pride respect the grip and with that we welcome in the winner of the Sony Open Grayson Murray how are you how are you my friend I’m good Gary how are you bud I’m doing great you know there when you
Look at the beginning of this year on the PGA Tours like really can you can you write scripts that people go no I I don’t believe that that couldn’t happen that won’t happen um and there you are right in the middle of it and we’re going to get to all the golf Because
Unless you did what you’ve done over the last eight plus months there’ be no golf you know that um so let’s start you know the darkness before the dawn um what were the things that were happening in your life that had you think that God I mean where’s the Hope where’s the light
What what was going on yeah I mean I think um you know I think my identity was in golf and it was tough because whenever I had a bad day on the golf course it seemed like there was no Outlet besides to maybe go to a
Bar and drink or go to my hotel room and drink and um once I figured out that my identity wasn’t Golf and it was uh first and foremost my Lord and Savior and um and then secondly my fiance and thirdly was my family and friends and once I
Figured out that I could lean on all three of them and um you know golf became kind of secondary I guess you could say um it became a lot easier it became that um I didn’t have to turn that alcohol when I had a bad round and
Um that was about nine months ago like you said now and life has been so much better because of it um you know obviously golf has been better but uh we’re talking about life here and it’s a real it’s a real game changer for me and um you know I think
Um this sitting here right now talking to you and this conversation it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t find my identity nine months ago you know as somebody who is walking a similar Journey as you are and that is you know seeking that daily reprieve and and
Being in a life of recovery and I’m I’m okay talking about it I’m more than okay talking about it it it’s actually helpful for me um and and the reason I I wanted to pursue this is because you and I thought we were terminally unique we’re like there’s nobody else who can
Think like I do um there’s no way uh but you and I think similarly we think like alcoholics and it’s hard for people who are not to even understand it and thank God they don’t um as far as you know saying I give up I can’t do this anymore
Was there a conversation was there a solitary moment that you said you know what I I got to give up in order to try to to win to try to get back to being normal to to have peace in my mind in my life was there a moment or a
Conversation yeah I mean well first and foremost I think giving up you know I wanted to give up on a lot of things I think I wanted to give up on golf um but I think what made me want to give up on golf was because I wanted to give up on
Things in life first and um like I like I mentioned I think um my identity was just wrapped around too much in golf and once I figured out that golf wasn’t the issue my bad play wasn’t making me um you know miserable it was the other things off the course make me miserable
And um I think once I’ve got a uh put my put my hand around that and wrapped around and said you know what I got issues like you just mentioned it’s okay uh that some people don’t understand them um but I am going to go to someone
Who can understand them and we’re going to get some help and basically just letting my um my ego just leave my body and let someone who is very understanding in this type of topic helped me out and that’s what I did and it was about 3 years ago this Summer
That I actually went first time to rehab and that um that was a very very uh mind and body out of out of moment experience where I kind of got there and was like ah you know I’m gonna be I’m gonna be I have my I guess you could say I’m going
To be a better alcoholic than these guys I’m going to be in rehab with I think I know more than they do and um you know maybe I don’t drink as much as they do or or it doesn’t affect my job maybe as much as they do or I haven’t lost
Everything like they have and so I I thought maybe hey you know what my my alcoholism isn’t as bad as theirs well I was totally wrong any mine was just as bad um and luckily for me I was in a place where I felt like everyone in
There was a little older than me and maybe have gone through it and um it didn’t work the first time or it didn’t work the second time and there’s no judgment in there whatsoever they’re really good to me they opened up to me like I opened up to them um and it was
Awesome it really was I was scared to death and when I walked out of there I was like all right I’m done I’m never going to take a sip and fast forward a little bit and I did you know I thought maybe hey you know I can just like every
Other alcoholic I can have one sip again and it’ll be fine and um it took a few few tries to kind of get back to where nine months ago here I am um and I used those experiences those learning lessons in rehab to um this final last time I I
Would say that I didn’t have to go back to rehab I kind of did it on my own and learn uh or use some of those um resources from the past and called some people and um I’m not going to ever say that like like I know everything about this topic
Because I never will um but I do have a better understanding and kind of know my triggers those are you know words that we like to use a lot are triggers like what what causes me to want to pick up a drink um avoiding those triggers for me
And you know I think just knowing how good life is right now and not having to even want to pick up a drink um as motivated me you know when you were talking about I it’s funny you know you you be around people who who had similar experiences you find yourself smiling
Because there’s a relatability h and it’s not smiling um in in like you said there’s an absence of judgment when you’re around other people who have had a similar path but what your mind was doing was you know rationalize like maybe I’m not as bad as they are and the
Justification that well you know I have an exp experience The Depths that some of these other people have and that’s what the disease is doing to you the disease is is trying to get you to believe that you can drink in a civilized way again um and it did it to
Me I’ve had I had multiple relapses and I would get to six months eight months and go yeah you know what I can I can have a single M scotch and I don’t even like scotch and put my finger out you know what you know where I wound up you
Know sitting in a closet in the dark with a handle of vodka because the disease the disease has one goal to kill you and and it wants you to be vulnerable vulnerable to seek isolation was isolation your your your place were you trying to get back to your hotel
Room you’re trying to get away from people was that a a garden variety behavior of yours to get away from others yeah I think I think it became isolation at first I think it was um let’s go do this in public and just not make a fool of myself but just let
People know that like I have the easy way out if I do go play Bad Golf like they saw me at the bar till midnight you know like hey you know this this kid uh just shot 78 and he was in the bar for till closing the bar down like hey good
For him he could shoot 78 so it was almost like a it was like I was trying to defeat this this disease uh in public in a way and it was like a kind of a uh my way of like trying to show off a
Little bit right like a mini John Da and I love that guys so I shouldn’t even like mention but he does have this disease that we have y um you know I think I think that was like my uh my way of like trying to stay relevant in this
Sport was to like oh Grayson can be a mini John Daly and play golf and drink and um keep his card and and then it became you know what people know about it and it’s this isn’t working my my strategy is not working so to speak and
Now let go to my room and just do it in silent and uh that’s kind of where it became became the last you know before this this last nine month stent I um when I finally became sober nine months ago I was you know doing it drinking
Before the rounds in the car you know on the way to you know in the parking lot at the course or um I was doing it you know in the hotel room before I played and um yeah it was it was a lonely lonely feeling for sure Gary you know
Grayson when I went to treatment the the you know this this whole thing about you know hope I I remember distinctly after you know doing this assessment where you almost feel like God am I being incarcerated like that’s and and there is a there’s a soul stripping kind of
Experience of of what that’s like and I’ve never felt more hopeless I felt my career slipping away I felt my family being at a point of of no return with fear and anger and sadness and Desperation and I didn’t know when the Hope was going to start again um do you
Remember when you started to feel like I do have hope and maybe I have hope because I have a little bit of faith that maybe I can do this do it today and then there’s tomorrow do you remember where you felt like your mind and your heart were somewhat turning a corner and
Believing there was hope for you I thought there was hope the day I entered rehab I thought um this was you know going back almost 3 years ago and then when I let my guard down that’s when I lost my hope again and it was
Really hard to see that like hope for me again for a while I felt like um it was it was a dark time there for basically two years of I didn’t see I didn’t see any hope Gary I didn’t think that uh I thought my career was going to
Be over with I thought I was um a failure there was there’s a lot of things that I felt um I let people down and um the only hope that I can always go back to is just my family and my mom and dad and how they never gave up on me and
Um when you see people like that who um I’m lucky because there are family members that’s why people end up on the streets you know that’s why people end up with nothing is there’s finally PE everyone around their cirle say you know what they’re not he’s
Not going to get better we’re just going to have to let him do it on his own and I was lucky and had those you know my parents that never never gave up on me and you know a lot of times it was hard because you were like Mom Dad like I’m a
Grown man let me just figure this out on my own you know stay out of it um and they didn’t they they got God behold they they they never gave up and um that was the turning point was when I um came back from Mexico last year and on the on
The flight home just feeling like I would rather be jumping out of this airplane than living with my anxiety level and um I got home and basically locked myself in the room for three or four straight days then eat and drink um and I said I I just had I had
That moment where I was like God if you’re there please listen and just let me just get me through these four days and I promise I’ll be done with it like thank you for giving me this chance to give up one more time on this disease
Because I I just want to be done with it and that’s what happened um those four days were lonely and and very very tough but I surrendered again at that point and that was uh that was the turning point of all this that you know it’s the
Biggest word is the surrender it’s it’s there are a lot of paradoxes with the disease as you know um and that in order to to to to win you got to give up you got to surrender you got to stop fighting it uh which you did you said
Something immediately after you won the Sony Open and it was you know something that you attributed to something you heard from somebody else and it was a combination of you know Jim valano and you’re from that part of the world steuart Scott um you know when you can’t
Fight anymore or let somebody else fight for you and you mentioned your parents um did you get the sense that your parents at the end were were was there more fear and and sadness was there anger was there frustration what do you think was their overriding emotion that
They had seeing their son who they had to feel helpless that is a certainty um my mother certainly felt it um what what do you think was the overriding emotion that your parents were experiencing right there at the end fear they’re fearful they’re fearful of just or they gonna wake up and one
Day get that phone call that I’m I’m gone or they GNA get that phone call that I driven and killed someone were they going to get that phone call you know whatever it might have been God God will you know willing that it wasn’t but whatever they you know those those
Horror stories you hear about in the news of a good person just making a wrong decision and because they are you know Under the Influence that’s what I think they were fearful of and um you know they can’t put me on a leash they couldn’t put me on house arrest they
Could whatever they wanted to do to just not make me make that decision Under the Influence they couldn’t do and they felt helpless and they felt a lot of fear and you know that scared me because I think um I knew that if I were to do something
Whether it had been what I just said just something that would have really hurt someone’s family or my family um or myself I think it would have not only taken me down but it probably would have taken my dad down real quickly um I I get emotional about this because of
Course he’s he’s just he’s been my rock and um he lost his best friend to this disease and um and and a lot of other um habits that I had has best friend had so it was it was a very um sad time because I I didn’t want my dad to have
To go through not only with his best friend but his son and you know he’s getting up there in age and it would have been it would have been very um Not only would it have been a um a bad thing for our family but also
For you know I have a brother and sister that need need their dad as well and um I have a mom that needs their dad and now I have two nephews that need their you know pea and um once I once I started thinking the bigger picture not
Just about myself um that made it clear of what my message was um you know that God was sending me and once I felt that message it just like was a peace that came down and um that I could give my father and my mother and everyone that
Hey you know they can go to bed and not have to worry about me um and that’s the greatest gift I feel like I can give them as a son now at 30 years old you know Grayson there there it’s it’d be very hard for anybody uh to not have the
Disease of alcoholism whether it’s directly or by maybe one or two degrees of separation it is it’s everywhere um and you know my mom before I went to treatment said something my mom’s the most selfless compassionate person in the world but her point to me me when
She said this was the damage that it does beyond the person who is in the grips of it uh the collateral damage is extensive and she said you need to understand when you get well which you will that you you essentially stood in the middle of your family and pulled the
Pin on a hang grenade because whether it’s PTSD and the fear that your parents had um or children like I have you’re in a different stage of your life and thank God you know you’re you’re a hacking this at a younger age um it’s it’s it
Does a ton of damage to a lot of people um and that’s just that that’s the thing that I think gets lost for a lot of people who who maybe it’s not directly affecting um is that there is a ripple effect what it could have done to your
Dad what ostensibly it would have done to your brother and to your sister and I can understand why I get emotional because I I can tell you this that and I’m okay saying this now my my wife at the end and again I’d walk in the door
Every day and there was a lot of tension in our house um she said you make you make lying so easy because I was trying to cover my ass from the fact that I was I was in the the throws of this thing and and I and I kind of shrugged and I
Tried to get past the tension that was in that room and when I finally got the help that I need and I could you know tell her the truth which was it wasn’t easy it was exhausting every day I was I was locked in in just this desperate level of
Dishonesty um so to be able to be honest to tell the truth and by the way not be guilty of anything you talk about peace and and I I say all those things because when I watched on the golf course uh at Sony you were uncommonly level and I’m
Like that’s not just because he knows he can do this there’s something else at work here you’re you’re you’re dealing with a level of Grace and I know gratitude that you probably have never experienced in your life have you felt as calm and as level as you have in the last last eight
Months doing what you’re doing to treat yourself and being in recovery no I mean I think a lot of it is uh knowing that I don’t have to juggle a second job anymore like you it’s a full-time job and try to do two full-time jobs you can’t and um so now I
Have my full focus on what I love to do and now I can give even more Focus to the people I love and it doesn’t wear you out anymore it’s like one of those things where you walk out on the on the course and you feel
Calm and you feel like hey look look around for for a moment and realize hey this is what I get to do like like this is fun like this is not uh you know they say it’s always like saying that if if you love what you do you don’t you never
Have to work a day in your life and I was like what does that even mean like yeah you do like but now I understand like it is you know it’s true I really do feel like I don’t work a day in my life when I’m out there competing
Because it’s just what I love to do and you know there are times where you’re going to have to put in the work and that you’re not going to like and you know that’s just part of that’s part of anything we do in life we’re going to
Have to put in some work if things you know aren’t going our best or what you know we want want to happen and um that’s just part of anything in life you’re going to have to work out a little bit but um it it definitely feels
Like I have just one job now and I can give a lot of my um a lot of my attention to the people I love who you know pretty much gave me all their attention for so long Grayson you don’t won’t remember this you and I met um at
The junior Invitational uh and I remember exactly where we shook hands you were walking off the 10th green you were walking back to the 11th T at Sage Valley um and I I was you know look you you were you were among the elite of the
Elite um not to mention you had a connection to a family that that I think the world of like you do the W family so I I was I I was taking a particular interest where you were going next and and and the College years were secur
This you went from here to there um and and do you think have you done any examination on you know where your mind was in your teenage years because it’s not just about your drinking as you know it’s about your thinking it’s not just about the alcohol like there are things
That I thought and did and and cynicism and resentments and being pissed at people that that yeah it can be a byproduct of me being being under the influence but it can be more than that do you think that that the early part of your life that you’re thinking was off kilter at
All I think well I mean I started drinking when I was 16 so you know I mean that was the time of like before College where you’re you know really important years of your life and you know your brain still developing and all that so I definitely think it it had an
Influence on on the way I thought and um you know I will never uh my my parents were they couldn’t raised me any better right they they raised me uh if you met my parents you would realize how good of people they are and and how I ended up
How I did no I’m just kidding um they really are the very most gentle people in this world and um I think at a fault to they were a little too Leen on me at times and you know looking back that’s how they had to handle me because they
Knew how I would you know react if they didn’t and they were just just being good parents and I think at times I when I got upset and and wanted to take the easy road which is to probably quit at times they were like okay well then
We’re going to figure out a different plan and that’s what happened a few times in college right I wanted to quit Wake Forest and you know I had Jerry hos over there saying no you don’t want to do this and then I had my parents saying
Well if we do we’re going to have to figure out a different plan and um it was always like I took the easy way out and I I felt like I was always gonna have a second chance right and I got a lot of Second Chances in my life um more
Than most people do and you know I think it came to a point where I was like how many times am I gonna get this lucky like how many times is God gonna give me another chance and I didn’t want to figure I didn’t want to find that out I
Wanted to take action on my own and that’s just what I had to do the um the behaviors that that we all regret um and it’s it’s not just people who you know are alcoholics uh we got to atone for our behaviors the best we can um what
Has been your method and in the way that you know you’ve gone about again it’s it’s we can’t regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it um you know I’ve had to make a lot of amends and I’ve had to you know write a lot of wrongs with
With people that that you know even things that I subtly maybe wasn’t even aware of and then you start to examine like I that I got to you know I got to make that right um and it’s not about beating yourself up it’s not about God I
Was a horrible person but I did things that I regret um what is what has the process been like for you with respect to that yeah I mean it’s been it’s been a long road right like I think all throughout you know let’s go back to
When I was 16 till now it’s that’s a lot of years it’s 14 years of you know making a lot of wrongs and um I think for a while um it was uh just living in total uh almost almost like I’m not doing anything wrong right like I’m I’m
In delusion delusional and um it it’s it became a point where it’s like all right people enough people point point this out it probably is something I’m doing wrong right it’s not it’s not a them problem it’s a me problem and um it’s been you know it’s going to be
It’s still this this process will never end I think as you know it’s not like a it’s not a a date where I have like all right I got to make up to all these people by this date or never happen I think over time you earn people’s trust
Um that’s all you can ask for is people’s trust and forgiveness um I I truly had to you know forgive myself first before you can start uh asking for forgiveness for from people and um once I gave myself the the the the I guess the the Forgiveness
That I needed um it became easier to ask for forgiveness from people and I really uh truly believe that everyone out there believes in second chances loves a loves a a story of of Second Chances and um I don’t think anyone in this world has has gone without a second chance or third
Chance and and and you know had have made mistakes and have to ask for forgiveness and so um at this point I’m I’m at the piece of people are going to forgive me it might take time some people are going to do it on their own
Terms and that’s okay it might not be on the terms that I want but um and then for the people that don’t I guess it’s it’s at the end of the day I whatever you know if they can go to bed happy with their decision then that’s all I
Can ask for um I’m not going to sit here and say I I want forgiveness from certain people um I just want I just want to to make sure that everyone knows that uh if they got a bad version of me in the past they they can expect a
Better version of me going forward you know last thing on this this part of this conversation um again I you know it’s amazing you find yourself in these situations and you’re like God how did I get here and I was on a two-way kind of like this but I had a stranger sitting
In the room with me in a treatment facility and my wife is on the other end of this conversation and she’s been put through hell and she said how am I going to know it’s going to be different not an easy question to answer um and I and and you know this
Was not rehearsed but I said to her I said you know what I’m I’m done I’m done telling you I just have to show you and that’s kind of what it is it’s Behavior it’s action it’s it is what you’re doing every day because believe me my life
Became a con every day was how do I get from the beginning of the day to the end of the day without being found out um and and it was like I said it was an exhausting exercise and it was like crossing the line of a marathon and then
It’s like okay I got to figure out how I’m going to do this again tomorrow that was every day so I told her I said I’m I’m done conning you I just have to show you um so it’s not about speaking as much as about just doing it let’s get to
You know getting back to what you love and finding the joy in doing something that you’re you know supremely skilled at doing and that is playing golf um when did it become where it was okay I’m finding balance again I was totally tilt I was completely tilted and now I’m
Finding balance again and equilibrium that I can pursue this again um when did you start to feel that pretty much immediately after I finally gave up drinking like nine months ago I mean I think it took a couple weeks to be like all right I’m actually doing this like it’s not just
Like saying it you know we’re actually GNA show people or show myself that I’m I’m done drinking and it’s not going to be one of those like ah let’s go five months and then maybe we can pick it up again like you’re all in this time right
So once I like convinced myself or showed myself that hey like this is the last time we’re we’re done and um it was immediately after that like I feel like the calmness started immediately um you know it was um the golf like obviously I I started having pretty good success um
Quicker than I thought um and it was if anything it just showed me that like it was always there like I always had it in me um I had no I had no one to prove it to um except for myself and I think my mom told me like not long ago
She’s like Grayson I knew it all along like if you just were to ever put it down like what you had you know all this talent that you had in you would show and um she was right I mean I think it’s it was just hibernating for so long
And um I I feel like that now that I have this burden off my shoulder I can um I can really just have have fun at it again and be a kid again and that’s the most exciting part I think is like knowing that I’m can go out there and and swing
Freely like a kid I can go out there and and Putt freely like a kid I have my hands back back I mean Gary for a long time I couldn’t like my hands were one of like I had to drink that just have my hands and you know I don’t have that
Problem anymore I go out there and I have shots that I haven’t had shot I mean I I just can hit shots I can make putts I can I can do the things that I haven’t had in so long and it’s a cool feeling like it’s like one of those feelings that
Um I don’t know how to describe it but I I will say that feeling like a kid again is really cool um and it’s it’s a it’s it’s a feeling that um when I go to the course and I see these six seven eight-year-olds practicing and going out and just
Whacking balls that’s like that’s I guess that’s the way I can say I feel right now the um the the final round at Sony um you you were you know I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie Rounders with Matt Damon when he’s just hanging around hanging around he’s got alligator
Blood you just kept hanging around uh and you’re hitting and making you know these terrific up and downs fabulous bunker shots um staying present staying staying in the moment shot for shot um just take me through the the processing you were doing last five six holes and
Your awareness level of where you were and obviously you had Keegan right there um just give me give me a thought about just looking back on it now a few weeks removed about your ability to process what was going on yeah I feel like um I feel like I was at peace like
Pretty much the whole the whole the whole tournament right and that gave me the chance to have a a chance on the final nine holes on Sunday and that’s all you can ask for when you’re teeing it up on Thursday just give me that chance um with nine holes to go and
That’s what I did I put myself in that opportunity and um it was U it was a day that I think me and Keegan were a little flat both of us were um trying to hang hang in there tough all day which we did and I really um I felt like I was
Just I was gonna win all day I felt like I was going to make a shot or make a putt that was going to be that moment that I was you know gonna say all right we got this and I you know I had a lot of good
Bunker shots coming down the stretch and and and hit you know made the putts that I needed to make and um and and really um just gave myself that chance on that last hole just said hey we let’s make birdie you know Ben On’s in there
Already at se 17 under and we know we have to get to that to even have a chance for a playoff um and that’s what we did we hit that shot in there in regulation I knew I was I knew I was going to hit it close it’s like one of
Those like moments where you’re like all right just give me the yardage I’m going to hit this close I don’t care what the yardage is um I’m going to find a way to get this in there close and you know you at that point you feel a little uh a
Little I guess like it’s out of your hands because Keegan still had a putt to win the tournament and uh that’s a tough feeling you know when you’re standing there and you’re like all right you know Keegan won made some big time pots and some Big Time moments so you you expect
Him for him to make it and when it didn’t go in we kind of were like all right I have I have a chance again like I got this chance on a playoff and uh when the when the playoff rolled around and and and I didn’t hit my best drive
And we had to lay up again it was like you know what I I have this long put and I know I’m GNA have to make it because one of them are going to make it and I’m going to have to just force another playoff hole and that was our mentality
And that was that moment that I thought I was going to have at some point during the day was that big Putt and that that’s when it happened and um as I look back on the patience and the trust I had all day it was like you just said just
Sticking around sticking around and um it’s the mentality that is easy to like say out loud like be patient all day you don’t have to you know Force anything um but at the end of the day too like you’re playing against guys who’ve won in the past or are really good players
And they’re not going to falter um you’re just GNA have to rise above them at some point and um you know maybe maybe in the majors guys will falter a little more because it’s maybe a little more pressure to want a major more things come from it and that’s just I think
That’s the Brooks mentality I think he sticks around sticks around the majors and he’s found that that works for him um and that’s what I’ll try to do for the rest of my life on Sundays is to have that mentality and um at the end of the day it’s like you
Have nothing to lose like just go out there and really try to give your full Focus for you know the time that you are out there and if you get beat then who cares but we have a saying right now that my my mental coach and I worked on
It and that’s just if you go home and look in the mirror and third person if you just ask yourself did I make Grayson proud today and if you could answer yes then that’s all you can ask for the um you know that kept good playbook I was
Actually sitting there at the PGA when he deconstructed the field before he went out and did just that about eliminating those who think they can those who who might but they’re going to falter that’s really the Nicholas Playbook Jack will he said it countless times in his 18 major wins like he might
Have played his best six times just wait for somebody else to make make a mistake and in particular the us some he said most guys see those 18 flags and go I can’t do this like I it’s it’s just you know just dig in hang around um and and
You know let somebody else make the blunder and it wasn’t like those guys did uh obviously Ben had a short putt after he made the bomb um in the aftermath I I didn’t think it was going to be an easy thing for you to go right
To the American Express um but you did you honor the commitment and you played uh the time with the people in your life your fiance your family um my dad always said to me Collective achievement is one of life’s great rewards um you didn’t do this alone you didn’t get back across
The finish line and it’s different from when you won the first time you’re a different you’re a different person you’re at a different place those conversations those moments sharing it with those people what was that like yeah I mean I haven’t seen my parents since then um you know we
Facetimed and whatnot and um but yeah being with my fiance and her folks and um her family you know over these last few weeks we’ve kind of adopted Palm Springs as our house out here on the West Coast and um it’s been you know like you said I I played American
Express and um sometimes it’s really tough to to just kind of back a win because of all the obligations you have but um I felt like it was the right thing to do and also um I think uh it was important for me to
To to to play in front of to her family and to show them that um you know this is their son-in-law that they’re about to get and he’s not he’s not going to be a giver uper he’s going to go out there and even with his not his best stuff
He’s going to grind it out and um you know unfortunately we missed the cut but it was um you know having this time to just spend with them has been uh has been really you can’t put it in words because um those are the ones that you know are
Going to be with you when you do miscuts and you’re going to go uh you’re go through these points in your career where they might not be the best highlight reels and um anytime you can you can spend the the time with the people like that that have um you know
Your best interest whether you’re whether you’re winning or um missing Cuts is is always special and um you know it it finally feels like that I can you know obviously winning at American Express what a heck of a story that was and I’m so happy for him and he’s a
Really good kid and deserves it and um I feel like my win’s kind of on the back burner a little bit now because of you know an amateur just winning and um it’s I I talked to him after the tournament too and I said look buddy
Don’t get it don’t get uh tired of saying you know thank you to all these people that are going to come up and congratulate you because you’re going to you’re going to win a lot and um get used to it and it’s one of those things that it is tough because you’re trying
To practice you know Monday Tuesday or Tuesday and Wednesday before the tournament starts and you’re getting kind of grabbed at every angle but um it’s it’s one of those things you have to just Embrace and you know tell yourself that if I want that’s what I
Want to be doing so let’s get used to this because we want this to happen a lot the um the Horizon of opportunity for you now is very different looking than it was a couple weeks ago Signature Series events the Masters um when you look out there and and being in the
Position that you’re in as far as schedule uh what’s the most important thing that you need to do to be right to be productive to be the best that you can be with the season that you have in front of you I think for me is just to uh to realize that
Um I’m I’m I’m gonna be tired I’m gonna I’m gonna play a schedule that um I’m going to be playing against the best players in the world who have been doing this for a while who’ve had this schedule for a while they I feel like
I’m kind of a rookie in a sense because it’s just a new schedule for me new opportunities for me um and I’m G to be I’m GNA have to just uh to really uh listen to my body and listen to um when I need rest just take it and um realized
That I’m going to be prepared um there’s a different way to be prepared now but it’s you know golf prepared physically prepared you can be mentally prepared and still perform well and um I think um I think just really focusing on each and every opportunity that I am able to get
Each week don’t look too far ahead don’t look at what um what I am in just look at next week which is Pebble Beach um and and really take it just week by week and um I think uh my plan right now is to never never play more than three in a
Row um my body my mind just cannot handle more than that um and it’s kind of when I was looking at the schedule that’s kind of how the bigger events fall it’s like you can play about three in a row and then there’s you know a couple events before maybe a major you
Know another signature event so I think they strategically do that for the for the guys who really just want to play about 20 to 24 events a year um and you know just be excited like it’s a it’s a great it’s it’s a great thing what I’m
What I’m doing like the opportunity that I have now and um get excited that I could play against you know the Scotty shefflers and the Roy maroy and uh Jordan SP and More Cows and everyone that you know that that has been at the
The top of our game for so long um it’s uh I think it was like Brian Haron who texted me and I said I get to see you more this year buddy and he’s like I can’t wait you know it’s like it’s one of those things it’s like some of those
Guys you never got to S see much during the year um and now now it’s like hey I get to see these guys and I get to play against them and uh get excited for it and know that uh I’m one of them too now
It’s not um it’s not just uh by accident that I’m in these fields I’ve earned my way and um and and and you know relish those opportunities all right let me get you out of here with these five quick questions is there a thing or place you appreciate now more than ever
Um uh I would say bed but I slept so much before um that wasn’t really sleep that was just exhaustion and passing out I know I know um I appreciate my fiance more than ever right now okay uh the player this year who will win for the
First time that no one knows that well right now is there somebody give me a future bet somebody who’s going to break out I would say I got three for you Kevin Yu who was actually the first round leader this year yep or this week Kevin Yu is
Gonna win this year I think Stephen joerger is gonna win and I mean I’m I’m going off the leaderboard right now but it’s true he’s he’s obviously he’s been super productive on the corn fairy tour that’d be a great story yeah and then I think Sam
Stevens who came in second of aera Sam Stevens is like a 47y old man and a 20 seveny old body like I did a little thing with him last year and it’s like my God this guy is like and I mean this in the best way he’s like old man
Walking around family already um no that that’s a very good one all right give me the thing about the Masters that you’re most looking forward to I think the practice rounds leading up to it I think I get to you know I think I get to play five times if I’m
Not mistaken I don’t want to say anything wrong here on uh but I think I get to play five times and if I want to bring someone then I think they have to be sponsored by the members so hopefully we can get it to where I can bring a
Couple you know my longtime coach and then maybe my caddy and I think those are the moments I’m gonna look forward to is the times when the crowds aren’t there all right what is the oldest thing you own uh I guess it would Be oldest thing I own that’s like materialistic anything whatever it might it might be a book it could be a car it could be a sweater could be anything I don’t know I’m not I don’t like to hold on to things like it would be like a trophy or something that my
Mom has kept you know Junior trophy yeah I mean I haven’t my mom’s like one of those people that I love to just keep things and I’m like Mom you can get rid of it it’s okay well what if your kids want it you know like Mom they’re not
Going to want it get rid of yeah but I really don’t have anything I mean the car I have now is the oldest they’re the longest I’ve ever kept the car so that’s cool okay all right last thing what what is the grouping you’d most like to have
On a Sunday tied for the lead one guy and I don’t it’s not like I want a piece of them just the opportunity the experience the memory of of coming down this stretch tied for the lead with who would it be uh I mean I guess in a major I would
Have to say tiger because I would like to think that like not only am I playing against them and and learn but I’m also learning in the same time um there’s a way that you can compete and still learn at the same time people don’t understand
You don’t have to just sit back and watch and give him the stage um so it’ be tiger in a major for sure okay Grayson you do realize that if you’re tied for the lead on a Sunday with tiger that the world will be completely off
Its access that that he will be tied for the lead of a major I I was there with him in 19 on that Sunday and that was it was unglued um if it was this year first of all i’ be the greatest you know memory
And moment of your life uh I I think the world might explode uh and think about the ratings I know that the playoff games are doing 50 million that’d be nuts no I mean look that’s the dream of anybody I mean you he was your inspiration was he
Not he was I remember just watching him as a kid like I would finish my off practice early because I wanted to get back and watch him you know around dinner time and it’s like you knew he was going to make that pot on that last toll every time and he delivered pretty
Much every time and it was it was incredible to watch like I think he’s the ultimate competitor and we’ve seen other you know I think Michael Jordan had that same mentality and um you know they’re they’re just wired different and it’s like they even they they go about the life a
Little different like off the course and uh I wouldn’t want to be in Tiger shoes just with all the chaos it brings but the guy has been uh fabulous to golf and I hope he can stay around as long as possible I I texted you after the win
And I I said something to the effect look it was inspiring it’s inspiring to me you know I’m inspired by people every day that people don’t know because they’re doing you know productive things healthy things uh great things in their lives and for someone like yourself
Who’s in the public view to see you do something like that it’s inspiring to me because look every day you know we we got to it’s just for the day you know and and I am I I don’t mean this in a patronizing way I’m proud of you um I’m
I’m more importantly I’m happy for you because winning is winning but finding peace in your life uh is the greatest reward and the level of gratitude that I know that you have um thank you for your cander and and I appreciate you having this conversation I appreciate you Gary I
Really do I think um you know we can’t do this stuff to get alone and uh we’re going to need each other uh you know and don’t feel free to uh if you need anything from a 30-year-old that doesn’t know anything uh you ever need I’m just
A text away and seriously I think anyone watching um you know I always see DMS pop up and you know me thanking them but it’s it’s all of us we have to thank each other for uh being so open and vulnerable because um you know us us
Males don’t I think tend to like to be as vulnerable uh just as a u it’s just the way it is and I think anytime we can open up and and be very vulnerable to each other is um is really special and um you know golf golf aside like I know we’re
Connected through golf but we’re we’re connected more more than that I appreciate it absolutely you said it right after you won listen you you you talked about it because you you know what it’s your responsibility to help somebody else and you don’t know how you might but it’s your responsibility
Uh to to pay it forward to to give it away in order to keep it um and I got it I know it um and I appreciate it so thanks again buddy I look forward to seeing you soon of course I appreciate it too really appreciate Grayson Murray uh
His cander him talking about things that maybe you’ve not heard before maybe you have with somebody that you know and and one thing I’ll say and I’m not speaking for him um with respect to you know forgiveness he’s got atonement to do so
Do I so does really all of us uh but if you look at somebody who’s 30 years old who is finding his footing forget golf for a second in life and then all the other things that come after it I promise you that it begins with his sobriety and he’s an interesting story
Going forward because if you go back he’s the same vintage Justin Thomas and Jordan spe and Daniel Berger and Zander shafley same class same bunch of guys and he was right there with them and if he finds some level not saying he’s going to be those guys but close that
Would be a hell of a story appreciate him most importantly appreciate all of you out there listening to this five clubs conversation we’ll see you next Time
