[BobbyB]

Watson carries on fight
Published November 22, 2006


Bruce Edwards toted the oversized, 50-pound golf bag of Tom Watson for 35 professional victories over three decades.

In turn, for the past 21/2 years, Watson has been carrying the weight for his late friend, though the challenge increases both physically and psychologically with each turn of the calendar page.

One of the most accomplished and recognizable caddies in PGA Tour history, Edwards died in early 2004 after an all-too-brief battle with ALS, which eventually rendered him unable to walk, move his extremities or talk. His Hall of Fame boss promised to do the speaking on his behalf, even after his friend's passing at age 49.

It remains an exemplary, heroic pledge -- though it requires the presence of an audience.

Watson has tried to keep the fire burning on the topic of ALS but finds it increasingly tougher to find a sympathetic ear. Earlier this year, Watson and sports author John Feinstein staged a celebrity-studded benefit tournament in suburban Washington, D.C., for the ALS research foundation they formed and named after Edwards.

"John told me he thought it was going to be easier the second year, but it was much tougher," said Watson of the event, which has generated $1 million in its first two years. "That's the problem with our particular situation. Bruce is gone, and he is not in the forefront of people's memories.

"To keep the issue alive of Bruce and his death is more difficult with every year."

No question, when it comes to charity and reaching for their wallets, many have short arms and even shorter memories. The fact that Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis -- commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease -- is a rare malady that doesn't generate many headlines only makes Watson's pledge that much more complicated. In research circles, it's called an orphan disease.

"It's something that's under the radar with most people," Watson said. "It doesn't take the lives of the numbers of people like cancer or heart disease, but it's a death sentence. The impetus of research basically goes to the diseases that kill the most people, and the funding follows. That leaves the orphan diseases without enough money to, in my opinion, adequately go after the disease."

ALS attacks the motor nerves and causes weakness, paralysis and ultimately, certain death. Patients often die of suffocation or respiratory failure. Mentally, they remain alert and unaffected, which can make watching a loved one's gradual erosion even tougher on friends and family.

"When you are incapable of doing anything for your friend, you felt incompetence, frustration,'' said Watson, who donated $1 million in Champions Tour prize money to ALS research in 2003. "On the other side of the coin, that didn't prevent any of us from going out to discover anything that might have benefited Bruce."

To this day, after a career that includes five victories in the British Open, Watson said that perhaps the most difficult task he ever has experienced is watching his friend wither and die -- and feeling utterly powerless in the fight.

"It certainly illuminates your mortality," Watson said.

Edwards left some of that behind. His widow, Marsha, and his four stepchildren still live in Ponte Vedra Beach, his longtime home while plying his trade alongside Watson on the PGA and Champions circuits.

Though it's an increasingly tougher mountain to climb, Watson remains more resolute than ever. He will do exactly as his caddie would have done while packing his clubs around under adverse tournament conditions.

Carry on.

"One of the things I am very grateful for is that I have the ability to do this through my celebrity, if you will," Watson said. "I am able to get people's attention. That's what I am trying to do."

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