Despite outside adversity, senior Kyle Murphy found inspiration in his grandmother's illness and helped Marquette salvage its fall break in Washington D.C.
Murphy, who recently learned that his grandmother, Pat Murphy, is fighting lung cancer that has spread to her bones, fired two rounds of two-under 70 to finish the 36-hole Hoya Invitational second individually. He was one stroke behind individual winner Graham Hill of Eastern Michigan.
His outstanding play helped Marquette recover from its 10-over, 298 first round, in which every player expect Murphy shot 75 or higher. On the second day the Golden Eagles shot a tournament-best two-under 286. Marquette finished six shots back of tournament winner Eastern Michigan, which shot a two-over, 578.
Murphy explained that his grandmother's illness has put golf in a new perspective.
My grandmother's illness "makes golf not seem that important," he said. "A three-footer doesn't seem that hard when you see what she is going through."
Murphy, who had not made the starting lineup for the Golden Eagles since the first tournament of the year, came out swinging this weekend.
"Sitting on the bench, it gives you a lot of time to think," Murphy said.
There was talk, especially after Marquette's rough final round two weeks ago in Xavier, of reinstating Murphy back in the starting lineup, and this weekend Murphy proved more than deserving of the second chance.
"During practice, my swing felt terrible," Murphy said, "but when I got in the tournament, something clicked. I started to swing consistently. I was able to put the ball on the green and make a lot of putts. I was able to avoid three-putts."
Senior Joe Weber rebounded from his first round 75 and shot 72 Sunday to finish three-over, 147. That was good for a 17th place finish. Freshman Mike Van Sickle, who placed out of the top-10 for the first time in his career, shot five-over 149 to place 25th. Sophomore Ted Gray shook off his first-round 80 to fire 70 in the second-round to finish the tournament six-over, 150. Senior Nathan Colson shot eight-over, 152.
"We didn't play a great round on Saturday, but we were able to rebound," Murphy said, "I was very proud of my teammates."
Murphy was able to call his grandparents, who have followed him and Marquette golf throughout his college career, and tell them about his performance.
"It was emotional, to say the least." Murphy said.
The Hoya Invitational was held on two separate courses at the Golf Club at Lansdowne in Williamsburg, Va. The challenging first round was held at the newly-opened Greg Norman course while the second round was played on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed course. Marquette, as well as the rest of the field, had some difficulty with the Norman course, while it found the Jones Jr. course much more to its liking.
"The first course was hard and narrow and the weather was rainy and windy," Murphy said, "however, everyone loved the second course and we were able to play well on it."
The Hoya Invitational concluded the first half of the golf teams extended weekend. It was the first of back-to-back tournaments for Marquette, who left Washington, D.C. Sunday afternoon to travel to Charlotte to compete in the 54-hole 49er Collegiate Classic on Monday and today.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 25, 2005.