Grayson Murray was good friends with Carter Jenkins for a while. The two were high school teammates at Leesville Road and used to indulge in friendly golf competitions across country club greens. Just days after Murray’s death, Jenkins recalls his last “casual” conversation with his friend.
According to the Raleigh News and Observer, Jenkins ran into Murray a few weeks ago. The duo met at Raleigh’s Wildwood Green Golf Club where they discussed “the Masters and the U.S. Open.” Jenkins added that the whole conversation was friendly and he “didn’t expect it to be the last” at the time.
Taking about his last meeting with his teenage friend Grayson Murray, Carter Jenkins said, as quoted by the Raleigh News and Observer:
“I asked him about the Masters and the U.S. Open he was going to be in and how he was playing. It was just a friendly, casual conversation, the usual back and forth. I didn’t expect it to be the last.”
Furthermore, Jenkins noted that he has had troubling thoughts about Murray and his mental health in the past. The 28-year-old Korn Ferry Tour golfer said that he ‘opened his eyes’ despite the struggles but ‘Murray didn’t.’
Carter Jenkins says Grayson Murray’s death came as a shock
Grayson Murray pulled out of the Charles Schwab Challenge last week. The golfer played a round at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, before his death. According to a statement from his parents, the golfer ‘took his own life’ after years of struggle with mental health issues.
Jenkins, who has played several rounds with Murray in the past, said the death news was a ‘bit of an out-of-body experience.’ He admitted that it came as a shock revelation.
Jenkins said ahead of a Korn Ferry Tour event, as quoted by the Raleigh News and Observer:
“When I first got the news, I didn’t really know what to think. It was a little bit of an out-of-body experience more than anything else. I sat there for about five minutes, didn’t really know how to react to it.
As the days have gone on, it’s gotten more and more real, which makes it harder and harder… It makes it harder to wrap your head around the fact he’s not here any longer. You have to accept that.”
It is pertinent to note that Grayson Murray admittedly struggled with depression and anxiety. In 2021, the two-time PGA Tour winner was revealed to be receiving treatment for alcoholism. The golfer has famously advocated for changes needed in golf to improve players’ mental health.
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