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Davis Riley had no problem closing out the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday afternoon.
Despite posting just an even-par 70 in his final round, Riley soared to a five-shot victory over the rest of the field at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. That gave him the second victory of his career and his second victory on the PGA Tour in as many years. It is also his first solo victory on the Tour.
Riley took a four-shot lead into the final round, which was shortened Saturday afternoon thanks to a late surge from Scottie Scheffler. The world’s top-ranked golfer shot a 63 on Saturday to get to 10 under, but on Sunday he struggled to do much of anything. Scheffler made two bogeys in his first five holes and ultimately finished with a 1-over 71 to drop to 9 under.
Riley, on the other hand, perfectly offset a pair of early bogeys and took a huge six-shot lead to the back nine after sinking a birdie putt on the 9th. From there he just held on the rest of the way to get to 14 under and take the win. The win moved him to No. 55 in the FedExCup standings,
Keegan Bradley jumped into second place on Sunday with his 3-under 67, which tied him with Scheffler. Only Maverick McNealy had a better day as his 4-under moved him 41 places up the leaderboard to T17. Collin Morikawa finished alone in fourth this week at 8 under.
Golfers honor Grayson Murray in final round
Although Riley walked away with the event, his win came just one day after longtime Tour golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide.
Murray died Saturday morning in Texas, shortly after withdrawing from the tournament in the middle of his second round on Friday. He was 30.
Murray has won the Tour twice in his career, including earlier this season at the Sony Open in Hawaii in a three-way play-off. That marked a long winless drought for him after his first win at the Barbasol Championship in 2017. Murray had struggled with depression and anxiety for years, and he was treated for alcohol abuse after his first win.
However, he had been sober since early 2023 and seemed to be on a much better path with his mental health.
“I drank during tournament weeks. I was my outlet,” Murray said in January after his victory at the Sony Open. “I thought I was invincible when I came out here as a 22 year old, won as a rookie, played three. I was hungover when I won. The best and worst thing that ever happened to me was winning my rookie year, but also feeling like I was invincible…I’m a different man now. If I did that, I wouldn’t be in this position now. Don’t put that drink down eight months ago.”
The Tour considered halting play altogether after Murray’s death, but his parents insisted it would go ahead as planned. They also asked golfers to wear red and black ribbons on Sunday, the colors Murray always wore when he competed on Sunday itself in honor of his hometown Carolina Hurricanes.
Players will wear red and black ribbons at Sunday’s game @CSChallengeFW in honor of Grayson Murray.
Murray wore the colors of his hometown Carolina Hurricanes during games on Sunday.
His family requested that ribbons of the same colors be worn on Sunday. ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/zS3V0pwW0N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 26, 2024
“Obviously the news hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m thinking of his family and praying hard for them all,” Scheffler said after his round on Saturday. “I can’t imagine how difficult this is. I’ve gotten to know Grayson a little better over the past six months and yes, there’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I think about his family.
Webb Simpson, who ended the week with 3 to spare, said he first met Murray when he was about 8 years old.
“When you hear news like that over the phone, at first you don’t think it’s real. And you know, you hear the emotion from our swing coach and then you realize it’s real,” Simpson said Saturday. “I know his mom was with him at the Wells Fargo championship [earlier this month] and I think they hung out together, and I loved those two days that we were together [playing there]. So I’m very grateful that I had a nice time with him before today’s bad news.
This post will be updated soon with more information.
