Grayson Murray: PGA Tour golfer who died aged 30 took his own life, parents say
PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray who died aged 30 took his own life, his parents have said, as they urged people to be “kind to one another”.
The American player, a two-time tour winner, withdrew from a competition in Texas with two holes remaining of his second round on Friday citing an illness, a day before he died.
In their statement, Eric and Terry Murray said “life wasn’t always easy” for their son and “although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now”.
The couple said that losing him was a “nightmare” and they have “so many questions that have no answers… but one”.
“Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.”
The pair thanked the PGA Tour and “the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support”.
They ended their statement by saying: “Please honour Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.”
Murray pulled out of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday and his death on Saturday was announced by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who said Murray’s parents had asked for the event to continue.
‘I wanted to give up on life at times’
Murray spoke in January about his battles with anxiety and depression and revealed he had sought treatment in the past few years for alcohol abuse but had been sober for several months.
Following his tour victory at the start of this year in Hawaii, he explained how much the win meant to him after what he had been through, saying: “It’s not easy… I wanted to give up a lot of times, give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times, and you just persevere.
“When you get tired of fighting, let someone else fight for you and that’s what happened.”
Grayson Murray after winning the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. Pic: Reuters
Golfers pay tribute to Murray
World number one Scottie Scheffler led the tributes to him. The American golfer said: “Obviously, the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet, but I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them.
“I can’t imagine how difficult of a time this is. I got to know Grayson a bit better over the last six months or so. There’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I’m thinking about his family.”
Murray’s long-time caddie Jay Green hailed him as “the absolute best”.
“Not only was he an incredible, thoughtful and generous boss, he was an even better friend,” he said in a statement.
“He truly would do anything for anyone. He has the best family and my heart goes out to them. We will all miss him deeply.”
Murray at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky on 15 May. Pic: Reuters
English golfer Luke Donald wrote on X: “Truly devastating news that Grayson Murray has passed away. He asked me for some advice on how to play Augusta a few months ago, last week I saw him at the PGA Championship, life truly is precious. My condolences and prayers to his whole family that they may find some peace.”
Donald’s fellow countryman Justin Rose wrote: “I had the opportunity to spend a few rounds of golf alongside Grayson in recent weeks at Hilton Head, Quail Hollow and Valhalla.
“I will always remember that and use it to remind myself that you never know what challenges people have going on in their lives and how they may be internalising things. RIP Grayson and love and strength to your family and friends.”
Murray playing at a PGA event at Valhalla Golf Club on 16 May. Pic: AP
PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan said: “Over the last several years I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here.
“I’m devastated by Grayson’s loss. The conversations I had with him, particularly the last year, I learned an awful lot from him. He was very open and transparent with me.”
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Murray won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January after sinking a 40ft birdie putt to beat Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley in a playoff.
It marked his first tour victory since clinching his maiden PGA Tour title during his 2017 rookie campaign, when he won the Barbasol Championship in Alabama aged 24.
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US
West Virginia white couple alleged to have kept five adopted black children ‘locked in barn and used as slaves’
A white couple from West Virginia have been accused of child neglect after allegedly forcing their adopted black children to work as ‘slaves’ and locking them in a barn.
Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, pleaded not guilty at Kanawha County court on Tuesday to multiple charges, including human trafficking of a minor child, use of a minor child in forced labour, and child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death, according to local news outlet Metro News.
They also face allegations of human rights violations, over specifically targeting black children and forcing them to work because of their race, Metro News said.
Kanawha County circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers claimed that the children were “used basically as slaves”, citing what the indictment alleges.
The couple were first arrested in October 2023 after a wellness check led to the discovery of two of the couple’s five adopted children – aged six, nine, 11, 14 and 16 – living in inhumane conditions at a property in Sissonville.
In a previous statement made to the court, Whitefeather alleged that the barn where the 14 and 16-year-old were found in was a “teenage clubhouse” and denied that they were locked in.
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A nine-year-old girl was found inside the main house before Lantz came home with an 11-year-old boy and later, Whitefeather returned with a six-year-old.
Their bail has been set at $500,000 each, up from the previous amount of $200,000.
A trial date for the couple has been set for 9 September.
Evan Gershkovich has been seen with a shaved head as he went on trial behind-closed-doors in Russia accused of spying.
Reporters were allowed to briefly film the US journalist on Wednesday before the start of the hearing in the city of Yekaterinburg where he is charged with espionage, which he denies.
Mr Gershkovich was seen standing in a glass box wearing a black-and-blue checked shirt before the proceedings were closed.
The 32-year-old’s trial is to take place behind closed doors. Pic: Reuters
The next hearing was set for 13 August.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was first arrested and detained in March 2023 after Russia claimed he had been “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA.
The 32-year-old reporter, who has already spent nearly 15 months behind bars in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo jail, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal sentences they regard as too lenient, and can even appeal acquittals.
Last week, the first details of the allegations against him emerged as it was claimed he was seeking details about Uralvagonzavod, a facility that produces and repairs military equipment, the prosecutor general’s office said.
The authorities have not publicly disclosed any evidence to back up the accusations.
The trial is due to take place behind closed doors – something Russia says is normal in espionage cases.
Mr Gershkovich, his employer and the US government strongly deny the claims and Washington has designated him wrongfully detained.
Jay Conti, executive vice president and general counsel for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, described the trial as a sham, saying: “He was an accredited journalist doing journalism, and this is a sham trial, bogus charges that are completely trumped up.”
“Evan has done nothing wrong. He should never have been arrested in the first place. Journalism is not a crime,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week.
He added: “The charges against him are false. And the Russian government knows that they’re false. He should be released immediately.”
The reporter makes a heart-shaped gesture at a previous court appearance. Pic Reuters
The White House has sought to negotiate Mr Gershkovich’s release, but Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow would consider a prisoner swap only after a trial verdict.
However, that could be months away, because Russian trials often adjourn for weeks.
While Russia-US relations are fraught over the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin and Washington did agree a high-profile prisoner exchange in 2022 that secured the release of basketball star star Brittney Griner, who was serving a lengthy sentence for cannabis possession.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested Mr Gershkovic could be swapped in return for the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for assassinating a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin.
However, this would require the cooperation of Germany in a Russia-US dispute.
Mr Gershkovich, the American-born son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, was the first US journalist detained on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986 at the height of the Cold War.
It followed a crackdown on freedom of speech after Mr Putin sent troops into Ukraine.
US
Huge former Twitch streamer Dr DisRespect admits to ‘inappropriate’ messages to minor in lengthy statement
One of Twitch’s former biggest streamers has admitted to sending “inappropriate” messages to a minor but says he’s “no f***ing predator or paedophile”.
Dr DisRespect, real name Herschel “Guy” Beahm, had more than four million followers on Twitch before his channel was abruptly removed in 2020.
He was only halfway through a two-year exclusivity deal with the platform.
Now, Beahm, 42, has addressed the ban to his followers on X, saying: “Were there Twitch Whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes.”
Twitch Whisper was a messaging functionality on the site.
“Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not,” Beahm’s statement added.
The explanation comes after a former Twitch employee shared an explosive post on X on Friday that appeared to refer to Beahm, although it did not name him.
Cody Conners, who worked on Twitch’s strategic partnerships team until last year, wrote: “He got banned because he got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch Whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon.”
Streamer Dr DisRespect (in red) in 2022. File pic: Jerome Miro/ USA TODAY Sports/Reuters
Shortly after Conners’ post went viral, Beahm appeared to deny the allegations, posting on X: “I didn’t do anything wrong, all this has been probed and settled, nothing illegal, no wrongdoing was found, and I was paid.”
In an earlier post, he said Twitch had paid out his whole contract despite the ban.
After the ban he moved to YouTube, where he has more than 4.7 million followers and still streams regularly.
Game studio drops Beahm
Midnight Society, a game studio that was working with Beahm on a new game, has now dropped him.
Robert Bowling, a co-founder of the studio, posted on Tuesday: “If you inappropriately message a minor, I cannot work with you. Period. I promised to only act on facts, and I did.”
On Tuesday, about an hour before Beahm published his statement, Bloomberg quoted three unnamed sources who it said confirmed Conners’ claims.
Tech news site The Verge also spoke to an anonymous Twitch employee who backed up the allegations.
In his lengthy X statement, Beahm said the decision to leave the Midnight Society studio was “painful” and “collective”.
“Our team is full of incredibly talented and good people that have high career ambitions and families,” he said, “and I’d never want to jeopardise the culture we have carefully crafted.”
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‘They want me to disappear’
“These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more,” Beahm added on X about the conversations with a minor.
“Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual.
“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with. That’s on me. That’s on me as an adult, a husband and a father.”
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However, he hit out at people accusing him of being predatory.
“I’m no f***ing predator or paedophile. Are you kidding me? Anyone that truly knows me f***ing knows where I stand on those things with those types of people.”
Despite the studio dropping him, Beahm said he won’t be going anywhere and plans to carry on streaming.
“I’m taking an extended vacation with my family […] and I’m coming back with a heavy weight off my shoulders.
“They want me to disappear… yeah f***ing right.”
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