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Webb Simpson and Grayson Murray were born eight years apart in the city of Raleigh, N.C.

When Simpson was a teenager with his sights set on a golf career, he met Murray for the first time. His swing coach told him there was a kid around eight or nine who was already “really good” and didn’t live far from Simpson.

“I remember meeting him. He was just a classic little eight-year-old, nine-year-old golfer. Very good at the game,” Simpson recalled Tuesday. “It was kind of one of these guys where you encounter good young juniors, but it’s rare where a guy gets better and better. So I kept watching him and staying in touch.”

Simpson started a junior tournament in 2010, and Murray was the first player to win it. Their friendship lasted till both were playing professionally on the PGA Tour.

In May of last year, four months after winning the Sony Open in Hawaii, Murray died by suicide at age 30, a shock to Simpson and the PGA Tour community.

Murray is on players’ minds this week in Honolulu as they prepare to play the Sony Open without its defending champion.

“I miss him a ton,” Simpson said. “I think, you know, when it happens it’s fresh on your mind and you think about it for days and weeks. You don’t stop thinking about it.

“But as time goes on, you know, life goes on, and then you have these moments a year after he won where we get to remember just his win, his life, what he meant to so many people.”

Murray’s family came to Hawaii this week as the PGA Tour helped put together a celebration of life for the late golfer, who during his life was open about his struggles with depression and addiction.

His parents, Eric and Terry Murray, also announced the launch of the Grayson Murray Foundation that will focus on mental health and addiction awareness.

Simpson said it was “very fitting” to have the celebration of life at the site of Murray’s last victory on tour.

“I can only imagine how hard it must be to lose a child, to even understand what they’re going through,” Simpson said of Murray’s parents. “I hope I don’t have to ever go through that. But I think, I hope that they could see how celebrated he was this morning. I was really encouraged with how many guys came, players, caddies, PGA Tour staff, media. I think it was a great outpouring of love for Grayson.”

Simpson added that he, Murray and a few others got together for a “really special dinner” at Pebble Beach several weeks after Murray’s Sony victory.

“Just reflected on his life, where he had come from, the trials he had gone through,” Simpson shared Tuesday. “And then, you know, winning out here can change your life so quickly, and I don’t know how confident he was on winning when he got here Monday, Tuesday that week, but he won and it really set up his year, got him in the Masters. He was about to get married, and so all this great stuff was happening in his life.

“So it’s hard to remember those and not be like immediately reminded of the sadness of what happened in May. But also don’t want to forget those were like real moments of joy and real moments where he experienced some great things in life.”

–Field Level Media