Akshay Bhatia playing for mentor Grayson Murray at RBC Canadian Open

ANCASTER, Ontario – Grayson Murray convinced Akshay Bhatia that he was good enough to play on the PGA TOUR.

Bhatia internalized that belief. He’s now a two-time TOUR winner and intends to honor Murray through the rest of his career, beginning at this week’s RBC Canadian Open.

Murray tragically died last Saturday at 30, not long after sharing a practice round with Bhatia in their native Raleigh, North Carolina. Earlier this week, Bhatia was driving near Hamilton Golf & Country Club, this week’s host venue, when he noticed a trash can with “G$” on it. He immediately thought of his longtime friend and mentor.

So he inscribed the letters “G$” in black ink, just under his left wrist.

“I'm playing for him this week, and every round I play for the next however long,” Bhatia said after an opening-round 69 at the RBC Canadian Open. “He's just with me all the time, and he meant a lot to me. Just happy and proud to wear Grayson's name on my wrist.

“He was one of my best buddies out here, grew up together. I looked up to him for a long time. I wish he was still here, but I know he's here watching above everyone.”

Bhatia was a young teenager when he first met Murray in Raleigh. Bhatia was 13 or 14 at the time, and he remembers thinking how cool it was that Murray was a PGA TOUR player – Murray earned his first TOUR card through the 2016 Korn Ferry Tour; he was just 22 years old at the time.

“I'd ask him what's it like being on the PGA TOUR? ‘It's just so cool, right?’ And he was always like, ‘Dude, you're going to be there. Trust me,’” Bhatia recalled Thursday. “He just always believed in me.”

Bhatia would ask Murray questions about golf, life. He never felt like a burden, as Murray freely engaged and welcomed the conversation. Bhatia gained confidence in turn that he belonged at the game’s highest level.

“Any time I got to see him smile and just talked to him, I knew he was one of the few guys out here that truly wanted me to play well,” Bhatia said Thursday. “He just lifted a lot of people's spirits. Even if his weren't up, he still wanted everyone to live a great life.

“He just taught me to be kind to others. His parents have always been awesome to me and treated me like one of their own, and he's done the same.”