FORT WORTH, Texas – Davis Riley finished at a 4-under 66 for a four-shot lead over the surging Scottie Scheffler at Colonial as PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan conducted interviews about the death of two-time tour winner Grayson Murray.
Another week, another dose of disturbing news off the course, this time at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Scheffler’s arrest during the PGA Championship a week ago was prompted by an accident that left a pedestrian dead. This death hit closer to home for the players, and Monahan quickly flew to Texas after receiving word Saturday that Murray, 30, had died.
Murray who have dealt with alcohol and mental health problems in the pastwithdrew late Friday in his second round at Colonial, and Monahan learned of his death just under 24 hours later.
So Sunday’s question of whether Riley can hold off world No. 1 Scheffler for his first solo victory is now being mixed up with how players might honor Murray just four months after he won the Sony Open in Hawaii.
“It’s not just about tomorrow,” Monahan said. “It’s about the coming weeks, it’s about the coming months. There are a lot of people who will carry a heavy heart on the PGA Tour for a long time, and there is a family that is clearly devastated that we need to support.”
Riley was 14 under 196.
Scheffler shot 63 and was alone in second place at 10 under. The hometown favorite has played his final 41 holes at 13 under since his first triple-bogey of the year in the first round, which was his second round over par (72) in the previous three and came after a streak of 41 rounds better off on par.
The Masters champion has a new series underway but once again found himself answering questions unrelated to his round.
“Obviously the news hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m thinking of his family and praying hard for all of them,” Scheffler said. “I’ve gotten to know Grayson a little better over the past six months. There’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is.”
Pierceson Coody, the grandson of Texan and 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody, and Hayden Buckley were one stroke behind Scheffler after 69 seconds.
Tony Finau was alone in sixth at 7 under after a 68. Collin Morikawa (67), who played in the final group at this year’s Masters and PGA Championship, was at 6 under. Morikawa was tied with three others, including Keegan Bradley, who was in the three-man playoff that Murray won at the Sony Open.
Webb Simpson had known Murray since he was 8, and Murray was the first winner of the junior tournament named after Simpson, who learned of the death about 10 minutes before teeing off.
Golf world mourns death of Grayson Murray: ‘It’s a huge loss for all of us on the PGA Tour’
An emotional Peter Malnati and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan were among many devastated by the news of Murray’s death.
“When you hear news like that over the phone, at first you don’t think it’s real,” said Simpson, who was shooting at 75 and 1 over. “And you know, you can hear the emotion coming out of us [former] swing coach and then you realize it’s real.”
Riley, whose only win was last year’s Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans with Nick Hardy, birdied five of the first eight holes before consecutive bogeys, just his second and third of the week.
The 27-year-old, who had seven pars and a birdie the rest of the match, fought Colonial two years ago and settled for a tie for fourth place while Scheffler lost to Sam Burns in a playoff.
Now Riley plays with Scheffler, who is bogey-free since the triple-bogey and has 10 wins since 2022 – and a pair of top-three finishes at Colonial.
“I’ve known Scottie for a long time and played a lot of junior golf with him, college golf, and he’s obviously playing really good golf right now,” Riley said. “So he’ll come out swinging, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and it’ll be a fun day competing there.”
Scheffler was seven shots behind Riley on the back nine, but birdied three of the final four holes to close the gap.
“I obviously didn’t know what the leaders were going to do, but just tried to do my best not to look too far ahead and continue to execute and give myself as many looks as possible,” Scheffler said. .
Jordan Spieth, Scheffler’s favorite, shot 71 and was 1 under. Defending champion Emiliano Grillo, who made the cut, shot 73 and was 5 under, tied for last among those who played this weekend.
