With sister’s illness on his mind, Davis Riley captures 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge

Davis Riley shot a final day 70 to easily win the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge Sunday at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.

It was a tournament Riley almost didn’t compete in after he received news that his older sister, Caroline, suffered a seizure earlier in the week.

“She was at work one day had a seizure. I got a call, I was actually all practicing and whenever somebody close to you is suffering or you hear something like that, you kind of hit the panic button,” said Riley, “So less than 24 hours from the seizure she got pulled in for surgery... when you have somebody that close to you all the worst case scenarios are going through your head.. thinking about how you could lose your sister...I didn’t even know if I was gonna be able to play this week.”

Riley’s sister wound up having a benign brain tumor that was removed during surgery and she is doing well in recovery.

The tournament was marred by death of 30-year-old Grayson Murray, who withdrew from the tournament on the 16th hole Friday, citing an “illness.” He parents later said he died of suicide.

“Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now,” Eric and Terry Murray said in a statement through the PGA Tour.

Sunday’s final round was paused for a moment of silence for Murray.

Riley was solid in final round

It was Riley’s third time playing the Charles Schwab Challenge and his previous best finish came in 2022 when tied for fourth place and said it was extra special winning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Riley received $1.6 million in addition to 500 FedEx Cup points and a one-of-a-kind 1975 Schwab Stingray for his victory.

Riley was the leader heading into the final day of play with a four-stroke lead over Scottie Scheffler, who had rebounded from a rough start on Thursday at the newly renovated course along the Trinity River.

“You got the number one player in the world breathing down your neck, not really any shot lead is too comfortable. I knew at some point today [Scheffler] was gonna make a push,” said Riley, “I tried to treat today as if we both started tied and I just tried to win the day.”

Scheffler finished tied for second at 9-under-par with Keegan Bradley, who shot a final round 3-under-par 67.

Riley never seemed in danger of losing the lead after dropping a 27-foot putt to birdie on No. 4.

A Mississippi native, Riley won the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his first career PGA Tour win and has earned $352,863 on tour this season. He ranks 151 in FedEx Cup Point rankings before his win at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Riley is the World’s No. 250 best golfer according to the World Golf Ranking.

Riley said this season had been a challenge because he had not played as well as he wanted.

“Honestly, the last six months, I kinda struggled,” said Riley, “Golf has been extremely hard and I feel like as of recently, I’ve been doing all the right things, putting in the hard work and that’s how it is, hard work is just hard work sometimes and you’re just waiting for that time where the fruits of the labor are there and you get in contention and have a chance to win...I’m just proud of the way that my team put all their energy and effort into me and I feel like I put some good work in and I’m just super grateful for the people around me to push me through that hard time.”

After finishing third in the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, Scheffler once again found himself in contention heading into the final day of competition. Scheffler is No. 1 in both FedEx Cup Points (3915) and tour earnings ($18,693,235) — more than double than that of Wyndham Clark, who ranks second in both categories.

Scheffler came to Fort Worth after a thorny week at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was arrested by police, accused of reckless driving, assaulting an officer and disregarding traffic signals before the second round.

A recently released video by Louisville Metro Police appears to contradict police reports.

Despite his struggles on Sunday, Scheffler extended his streak of top-10 finishes at a PGA Tour event to 10 in a row.

Last year’s winner Emiliano Grillo finished in 64th place shooting 6-over par at the invitational and 1-over 71 on Sunday.