Riley leads surging Scheffler at Colonial

LOS ANGELES — Davis Riley had a four-shot lead over surging Masters champion Scottie Scheffler on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where PGA Tour pros were stunned to learn that 30-year-old colleague Grayson Murray had died.

The US PGA Tour said in a statement that Murray, who withdrew from the event at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, had died suddenly on Saturday morning.

A cause of death was not immediately known, and tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Murray's parents had urged officials to continue competition.

"Obviously the news hasn't really sunk in quite yet, but I'm thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them," Scheffler said.

"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 and there's not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is -- but I'm thinking about his family."

Riley, ranked 250th in the world and chasing a second US PGA Tour title, pushed his two-stroke overnight lead to four with a four-under par 66 that left him at 14-under 196.

Riley had five birdies on the front nine before back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th slowed his progress, but he bounced back with a birdie at the par-three 16th -- where he landed his tee shot within four feet of the pin -- to plump his cushion.

"I got off to a hot start," said Riley, whose previous title came alongside Nick Hardy in the 2023 Zurich Classic two-man team event.

"I was just playing some really solid golf, hitting a lot of fairways and greens, and got the putter going a little bit.

"Made one or two loose swings on nine and 10, and yeah, the last couple hours on the course were tough."

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