FORT WORTH, Texas – Davis Riley was finishing 4-under 66 for a four-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler at Colonial while PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was conducting interviews about the death of two-time tour winner Grayson Murray.
Another week, another dose of disturbing news off the field, this time in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Scheffler’s arrest during the PGA Championship a week ago was triggered by an accident that killed a pedestrian. This death hit players closer to home, and Monahan quickly flew to Texas after receiving the news on Saturday that the 30-year-old Murray had died.
Murray, who had dealt with alcohol and mental health issues in the past, withdrew at the end of his second shift at Colonial on Friday, and Monahan was informed 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 mixed with how players can 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 next few weeks, it’s about the next few months. There are a lot of people who will be heavy-hearted about an extended period on the PGA Tour, and there is one family who is obviously devastated that we need to support.”
Riley was 14 years old and under 196 years old.
Scheffler shot 63 and was alone in second place at 10 under. The hometown favorite has played his last 41 holes in 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, snapping a 41-round streak at better par.
The Masters champion is on a new streak, but once again found himself answering questions that had nothing to do with his round.
“Obviously, the news hasn’t come in yet, but I’m thinking about 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 really no way to put into words how sad and tragic this is.”
Pierceson Coody, grandson of Texan and 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody, and Hayden Buckley were one shot behind Scheffler after 69s.
Tony Finau was alone in sixth place at 7 under after a 68. Collin Morikawa (67), who played in the final group at the Masters and PGA Championship this year, 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 years old, and Murray was the first junior tournament winner named after Simpson, who discovered his death about 10 minutes before teeing off.
“When you hear news like this over the phone, at first you don’t think it’s real,” said Simpson, who shot 75 and was 1 year old. “And, you know, you hear the emotion coming from our swing coach and then you realize it’s real.”
Riley, whose only win was the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans with Nick Hardy last year, made birdies on five of the first eight holes before back-to-back bogeys, just his second and third of the week.
The 27-year-old, who had seven pars and a birdie the rest of the way, played at Colonial two years ago, settling for a tie for fourth as Scheffler lost to Sam Burns in the playoffs.
Now Riley will play Scheffler, who has been bogey-free since the triple bogey and has 10 wins and a pair of top-three finishes at the Colonial since 2022.
“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’s going to go out strong, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and it will be a fun day competing there.”
Scheffler was seven strokes behind Riley on the back nine, but birdied three of the last four holes to close the gap.
“I obviously didn’t know what the leaders were going to do, but I just tried to do my best to not look too far ahead and continue to go out there and execute and try to get as many looks as possible,” Scheffler said. .
Jordan Spieth, also a hometown favorite of Scheffler, shot 71 and was 1 under. Defending champion Emiliano Grillo, who cut the number, shot 73 and was 5 under, tying for last among those who played over the weekend.
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AP Golf:
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