Tom Watson and his caddie, Bruce Edwards, were an inseparable duo. The 8-time major winner, Watson, and his caddie Edwards were an iconic duo.

For almost three decades, Edwards caddied for Watson, sharing in the success when the latter won eight majors and 39 PGA TOUR events, establishing himself as one of the greats.

After suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis for a year, Edwards succumbed to the illness in 2004 at the age of 49, leaving Watson and the golf community heartbroken. Following his passing, Watson followed a tradition in honor of Edwards at The Masters.

Neil Oxman, Watson’s caddie after Edwards, shared that Watson would go to a remote spot on the Augusta course, the back of the 13th tee, just as Edwards did. It was Edwards’ favorite spot, where he would eat an egg-salad sandwich while players waited for the fairway to clear.

“That’s part of the tradition, my Masters tradition,” Watson said. 

Watson brought an egg-salad sandwich every year to The Masters to place beside the tee in memory of Edwards after his passing. The wrapper of the sandwich had one word written on it: “Bruce.”

Exactly 12 years after Edwards passed away, during his last Masters, Watson placed the sandwich at the back of the 13th hole, bringing an end to the tradition that started in 2005. The story brought tears to many eyes.

"You lost a man in body, but you didn't lose him in spirit. I'm relying on his spirit to take care of me," Watson said. after the loss of Edwards.

The Arnold Palmer of Caddies

Jim Mackay, former longtime caddie of Phil Mickelson, once referred to him as “The Arnold Palmer of caddies.”

Edwards didn’t treat caddying like a side role. For him, it started before the first shot.

While others showed up and reacted, he was already on the course earlier in the week, walking it, learning the greens, figuring out what it would demand.

That kind of preparation feels standard now. It wasn’t then.

Players relied on it, even if they didn’t always say it out loud. Over time, that edge became part of the job itself, and Edwards was right at the center of that shift.

It eventually earned him a place in the Caddie Hall of Fame.

Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story looks back at his career, along with the ALS battle he carried through to the end.

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav