Grayson Murray Tweets Lack of Help from PGA

[MUNIGRIT]

Is anyone surprised Murray hits the sauce?

[bladehunter]

17 minutes ago, DON SVO said:

Alcohol dependence and alcoholism is such an interesting topic. I had several family members of an older generation that would 100% tick the box, and my mom was going through AA until she passed away from COPD complications (she decided to become an alcoholic in her 50s, wild stuff). I recognized that it resided in my family tree and (if you believe it’s genetic and a true disease) understood I would be prone to developing a taste for it. That said, I got to a point in my life recently where I decided that alcohol was becoming too common of a crutch and stopped pretty much cold turkey. 
 

I told my sister and wife I was tired of it and to hold me accountable. 
 

Some folks may say I wasn’t a “true alcoholic”, but I have friends that needed counseling/AA/sponsors/support network to kick it and I was definitely exceeding their quantity and frequency in several cases. How was I able to stop like I did? I don’t have the answer for that. I’d be lying if I said I knew how I can flip the switch off. The entire topic is so very fascinating and a big part of me says we will probably never fully understand it. 
 

in relation to the original topic, I hope Murray gets help. I’ve seen 2 friends finally bite the bullet and do rehab and dedicated AA meetings (oddly enough I am a sponsor to this day from friend #1, over 8 years now) and they’re way better off for it. 

Thoughtful post.  Curious.  Did you replace the habit with any other ( healthy or not )?  Reason I ask is that I realize in my self that I have habits or addictions.  1. Is that I love to spend money. Not in a crazy way. But if I finish a job , I can’t wait to buy something.  I’ve never been a cash hoarder.  I’ve never had a problem making it either , but I do enjoy Turning  it into “ things “.   I decided during covid last year to upend that , and refuse my cravings.  And did. But I won’t lie and say that the craving isn’t still there.  
 

now before someone goes off the deep end. I’m a buyer with the idea of value in mind.  Meaning , my buying could easily be liquidated , and probably for a profit at this point in the covid economy.  I’ll give you a for instance.  If I needed to dig a trench. I might go buy a ditch witch rather than renting one or paying someone else to do it.  That way I can dig trenches at a moment’s notice , forever. 😂as if anyone needs that ability.  So it’s not beanie babies or go carts. It’s equipment, and then buildings to house the equipment, and so on.  So i replaced that urge with a slush fund to invest.  So watching that egg grow is the new endorphin rush.  And mind you I’m not talking a ton of money or money that hinders the bill paying. I’m talking front pocket money.  
 

I’m not comparing the two either. Just that I get the itchy feeling on a small level.  This and my family story is why I am so interested.  

[J13]

I truly feel for people struggling with addiction, especially Grayson Murray.  With the covid lockdown it threw many people into self destructive spiral.  And in Murray's case add that to the recent murder of his aunt and uncle in North Carolina.  Just a bad situation fill with a lot of trauma (the real culprit). 

 

Hope he gets some help and finds some happiness.

[DON SVO]

Just now, MUNIGRIT said:

Is anyone surprised Murray hits the sauce?

i don’t feel that’s necessarily the point of contention here. 
 

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that substance abuse of all shapes and forms is highly prevalent amongst the PGA rank-and-file players. High stress, long hours, overwhelming amounts of solitude and a lot of “switched on/switched off” days every week. I also wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if that random Tour Player survey with wild TMI questions posed “do you consider your consumption of alcohol and/or other substances to be excessive?” and it netted a 25-50% “YES”. 

[caniac6]

16 hours ago, Steele47 said:

Oh,  so there are still baseball fans.   Did not know that.

Love baseball! Go, Red Sox

[DON SVO]

6 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Thoughtful post.  Curious.  Did you replace the habit with any other ( healthy or not )?  Reason I ask is that I realize in my self that I have habits or addictions.  1. Is that I love to spend money. Not in a crazy way. But if I finish a job , I can’t wait to buy something.  I’ve never been a cash hoarder.  I’ve never had a problem making it either , but I do enjoy Turning  it into “ things “.   I decided during covid last year to upend that , and refuse my cravings.  And did. But I won’t lie and say that the craving isn’t still there.  
 

now before someone goes off the deep end. I’m a buyer with the idea of value in mind.  Meaning , my buying could easily be liquidated , and probably for a profit at this point in the covid economy.  I’ll give you a for instance.  If I needed to dig a trench. I might go buy a ditch witch rather than renting one or paying someone else to do it.  That way I can dig trenches at a moment’s notice , forever. 😂as if anyone needs that ability.  So it’s not beanie babies or go carts. It’s equipment, and then buildings to house the equipment, and so on.  So i replaced that urge with a slush fund to invest.  So watching that egg grow is the new endorphin rush.  And mind you I’m not talking a ton of money or money that hinders the bill paying. I’m talking front pocket money.  
 

I’m not comparing the two either. Just that I get the itchy feeling on a small level.  This and my family story is why I am so interested.  

Ha! Very interesting. I am also a glutton for punishment when it comes to hobbies, we’ve discussed cars in the past. You know anyone else building a 500whp Festiva? You do now. 
 

Now as for redirection you hit the nail on the head. My “poison of choice” was vodka and soda with a lime. At one point I had zero issues consuming 6 or 7 “solid pours” (jigger and a half, roughly +/- 2.5 fl/oz) in a three hour window on a weeknight. I was up and working at 630-645am and, aside from feeling somewhat sluggish, was fine. That’s where I finally took a step back. If you want to PM me for details you can. Regardless, I LOVE Topo Chico. I’ll go through 4 or 5 a day now. Topo with lime has some fizzy and tastes great to me. I think it was a fair trade in the grand scheme of things. 

[Big GG]

Grayson Murray decides to drink and blames everything and everyone for his own problems. Hey Grayson look in the mirror. I know he has faced some tough issues. However nothing will change until he decides to change.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Big GG
Spelling

[bladehunter]

18 minutes ago, DON SVO said:

Ha! Very interesting. I am also a glutton for punishment when it comes to hobbies, we’ve discussed cars in the past. You know anyone else building a 500whp Festiva? You do now. 
 

Now as for redirection you hit the nail on the head. My “poison of choice” was vodka and soda with a lime. At one point I had zero issues consuming 6 or 7 “solid pours” (jigger and a half, roughly +/- 2.5 fl/oz) in a three hour window on a weeknight. I was up and working at 630-645am and, aside from feeling somewhat sluggish, was fine. That’s where I finally took a step back. If you want to PM me for details you can. Regardless, I LOVE Topo Chico. I’ll go through 4 or 5 a day now. Topo with lime has some fizzy and tastes great to me. I think it was a fair trade in the grand scheme of things. 

Lol. Yep. Wish we were neighbors. We’d just consolidate funds and build a race car or some other money pit. 🤦‍♂️

[DON SVO]

10 minutes ago, Big GG said:

Grayson Murray decides to drink and blames everything and everyone for his own problems. Hey Grayson look in the mirror. I know he has faced some tough issues. However nothing will change until he decides to change.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a successful PGA Tour player or a cashier at Walmart, lots of people compartmentalize daily grind issues and end up using a substance to deal with it all. For quite a few “change” isn’t in the cards without a nudge. I hope he gets help without realizing a life-changing event that requires it. 

 

6 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Lol. Yep. Wish we were neighbors. We’d just consolidate funds and build a race car or some other money pit. 🤦‍♂️

As long as we can trap 140+ in a terrifying “skreet legal” tin can shitbox I’m your huckleberry.   

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, DON SVO said:

It doesn’t matter if you’re a successful PGA Tour player or a cashier at Walmart, lots of people compartmentalize daily grind issues and end up using a substance to deal with it all. For quite a few “change” isn’t in the cards without a nudge. I hope he gets help without realizing a life-changing event that requires it. 

 

As long as we can trap 140+ in a terrifying “skreet legal” tin can shitbox I’m your huckleberry.   

Oh yea.  We can do that for sure.  I have a 03 terminator long block. With a sheet metal upper and a XX trim renegade mount Vortech head on it now. Just sitting under my workbench. Waiting.   Lol.   That thing pulls hard on the top end. 

 

  We find a mavrik or an old comet with some “ patina “ on its green paint and back halve it with a 9 inch and some small dot rubber out back and something to stop it with up front .  By the time they realize they’re in danger , they’re already dead.  😂.  I’d have to probably cut the shock towers in front and  do a double A arm suspension to fit that motor. But that would let me sit it down and then back a few inches so the stock hood would still clear.  

[Mustard_Tiger]

4 hours ago, capking said:

It’s because people online always know what’s right and wrong with other people’s lives…..

 

I'm smart enough to know I don't know.

 

😀

[Soloman1]

I'm not sure if Grayson was calling out the PGA Tour or just calling out to anyone. Addiction is hard. Not everyone is as smart and omnipotent as the all powerful Oz behind the curtain keyboard.

[golfandfishing]

5 hours ago, jmck said:

Anywho, late to the party here (and I'll happily leave the disease v. choice debate alone), but I look at this as the broken clock that's right twice a day.  Greyson is clearly not the ideal messenger, but IMO he has a point.  With the amount of money the PGA Tour blows on being a clearly bloated organization, it's criminal they don't have a full time psychiatrist/counselor/whatever on staff, just for being on call whenever a player needs help.

 

And it's not just Greyson.  Look at Matt Wolff.  Sure he has the means to step away from the game for a few months and seek professional help outside of the PGA Tour if he's struggling with his mental health, but how is a PGA Tour staffer not on call for these guys when they're feeling like Wolff was feeling a few months back?  $120k a year to fill that position is a drop in the bucket for the PGA Tour, and it's a shame that they don't make the minimal effort it would take to offer that service.  

This is a solid first thought and seems obvious, but when that “help” becomes an employee of the tour you face some real conflicts - is this person really the best source of help for the player? Does he have the tour’s best results in mind, or the player’s?  What if a player doesn’t like the on staff help, or more likely doesn’t like what that person has to say?  What if the player seeks help from the staff member, gets it and then suffers a self inflicted tragedy? Too many reasons for the assistance to not be a Tour employee and instead provide a myriad of options through their benefits, which all players already have access to. 

[bladehunter]

24 minutes ago, golfandfishing said:

This is a solid first thought and seems obvious, but when that “help” becomes an employee of the tour you face some real conflicts - is this person really the best source of help for the player? Does he have the tour’s best results in mind, or the player’s?  What if a player doesn’t like the on staff help, or more likely doesn’t like what that person has to say?  What if the player seeks help from the staff member, gets it and then suffers a self inflicted tragedy? Too many reasons for the assistance to not be a Tour employee and instead provide a myriad of options through their benefits, which all players already have access to. 

Very true.  Liability prevents many things these days that we’d have considered help in good faith in the past.  

[DON SVO]

1 hour ago, bladehunter said:

Oh yea.  We can do that for sure.  I have a 03 terminator long block. With a sheet metal upper and a XX trim renegade mount Vortech head on it now. Just sitting under my workbench. Waiting.   Lol.   That thing pulls hard on the top end. 

 

  We find a mavrik or an old comet with some “ patina “ on its green paint and back halve it with a 9 inch and some small dot rubber out back and something to stop it with up front .  By the time they realize they’re in danger , they’re already dead.  😂.  I’d have to probably cut the shock towers in front and  do a double A arm suspension to fit that motor. But that would let me sit it down and then back a few inches so the stock hood would still clear.  

 

My kind of build.

[capking]

3 hours ago, Mustard_Tiger said:

 

I'm smart enough to know I don't know.

 

😀

Same here haha

[golfortennis]

4 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Very true.  Liability prevents many things these days that we’d have considered help in good faith in the past.  

 

I'm not so sure it would be so much a liability thing(although it would certainly play some part--there are now three certainties in life:  death, taxes, and lawyers will ruin everything).  I would be more thinking along the lines of how different people will respond to different therapists, not to mention geography could turn into a huge issue.  

 

I would also question whether a number of these professionals would want to be employed by the tour, rather than maintain their own practices.  

 

But at a bare minimum, there should be someone on staff whose job is to provide a full list of people the player can contact in any area they happen to be in.   

[golfortennis]

5 hours ago, Mustard_Tiger said:

 

I'm smart enough to know I don't know.

 

😀

 

If the next thing you tell us is you don't hit it 350 off the tee, we'll know you are lying.

[bladehunter]

14 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

I'm not so sure it would be so much a liability thing(although it would certainly play some part--there are now three certainties in life:  death, taxes, and lawyers will ruin everything).  I would be more thinking along the lines of how different people will respond to different therapists, not to mention geography could turn into a huge issue.  

 

I would also question whether a number of these professionals would want to be employed by the tour, rather than maintain their own practices.  

 

But at a bare minimum, there should be someone on staff whose job is to provide a full list of people the player can contact in any area they happen to be in.   

Yep.  Great point.  And Docs do this.  I know an opthalmic surgeon who has a deal with an MMA organization to see /be on call for fighters when they are in the southeast competing.   Keeps them out of the ER and the news etc.   I had forgot about that until reading your post. 

[TiScape]

10 hours ago, Big GG said:

Grayson Murray decides to drink and blames everything and everyone for his own problems. Hey Grayson look in the mirror. I know he has faced some tough issues. However nothing will change until he decides to change.

I just hope he wasn’t wearing a $15k watch when he tweeted that! 😉 😂 

[cardoustie]

Life is tough

 

understandably, some people struggle with the day to day, and need crutches

 

give the kid a break.  He’s asking for help getting out of a ditch he’s stuck in.  Changing your vices, or stopping them, is terrifying for many and going over the starting line is VERY intimidating

 

the tour, and it’s bloated staff, could certainly help … 

 

[sonnygolf]

What a snowflake spoilt cry baby. 

[golfandfishing]

11 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

I'm not so sure it would be so much a liability thing(although it would certainly play some part--there are now three certainties in life:  death, taxes, and lawyers will ruin everything).  I would be more thinking along the lines of how different people will respond to different therapists, not to mention geography could turn into a huge issue.  

 

I would also question whether a number of these professionals would want to be employed by the tour, rather than maintain their own practices.  

 

But at a bare minimum, there should be someone on staff whose job is to provide a full list of people the player can contact in any area they happen to be in.   

There must be resources available to Murray through his health plan. I’m a middle manager at a 1,000 person company and we have a fairly standard health plan. If I woke this morning addicted to anything I could have several referrals by lunch time through Cigna. There is no way he doesn’t have access to this. He’s had issues since at least January, in all of that time 5 minutes online or on the phone with the number on the back of his HI card would have gotten him in touch with help. Then of course he would have had to contact that help and agree to be helped, then commit to the help. His problem is not that he doesn’t have access to help, it’s that he wants to be able to send someone else to rehab for him. 

[cardia10]

On 7/24/2021 at 2:12 PM, caniac6 said:

I guess these guys are independent contractors until they are not. i wish Murray all the best, but if the Tour isn't helping him, he needs to find help on his own. If the Tour life is the cause of his drinking, he needs to get off tour. It sounds like this problem goes back awhile, and if he doesn't seek help, it will not end well.

Yeah, they were all independent contractors until a rival tour discussed starting up, then the tour got awfully possessive of these "independent contractors."