Bruce Edwards passes. [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

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04-08-2004, 01:29 PM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Bruce Edwards, Tom Watson's longtime caddie who was the inspiration for a national campaign to raise money for the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, has died from complications of the disease. Edwards was 49.

Edwards passed away Thursday morning at his home in Florida. His death was confirmed by the PGA Tour, which is based in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Watson was notified of Edwards' death shortly before teeing off at The Masters.

Edwards was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in January 2003. Although he had an aggressive form of the disease, Edwards was able to caddie for Watson throughout the year.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. As voluntary muscle action becomes affected, patients in the late stages of ALS become paralyzed.

Edwards was told early last year that he had one to three years to live.

"If I go in a year or less, I've had a wonderful life," Edwards said at last year's U.S. Open. "I've been lucky. I had one of the greatest golfers in the world. I've had a wonderful ride, a lot of wins, a lot of great moments."

Despite the severity of Edwards' condition, 2003 was a magical season in many ways for both men. Watson became the first pro to play in all nine majors on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, winning two and finishing second in two others. He was the Champions Tour's Player of the Year.

In June, after he shot a 65 that left him tied for the first-round lead at the U.S. Open, Watson took the fight to find a cure for ALS public.

"It affects 30,000 people and that doesn't make it a big enough disease for the drug companies to spend millions of dollars to find a cure like [they do with] AIDS, cancer, heart disease and things like that," Watson said at the time. "So private funding has to do it and some public funding.

"You find most of the funding coming from the patients and their families themselves to try to find a cure. There are some very, very strong indications that a drug will cure ALS, we just have to find it."

At the end of the season, Watson donated the entire $1 million annuity he won for capturing the Charles Schwab Cup to charity, with the majority going to ALS research. Watson has contributed or helped raise almost $3 million in support of ALS research, and other charities, since Edwards was diagnosed.

Edwards was with Watson for the majority of his 39 PGA Tour victories and all but one of his six Champions Tour wins. He began working for Watson in 1973 and remained his caddy for all but a short stint in the early 1990s when he was employed by Greg Norman.

Edwards was born on Nov. 16, 1954 in Hartford, Conn., and raised in Wethersfield. He resided in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and is survived by his wife, his parents and two stepchildren.