Tom Watson left his final egg salad sandwich for Bruce Edwards at the Masters
Masters

Tom Watson left his final egg salad sandwich for Bruce Edwards at the Masters

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Tom Watson is playing in his final competitive Masters in 2016. The 66-year-old two-time Masters winner has played 134 tournament rounds at Augusta National.

In the final 13 years of Watson's Masters career, he has developed a tradition of his own to pay homage to a fallen friend.

Watson's long-time caddie Bruce Edwards died from complications of ALS -- also called Lou Gehrig's disease -- on April 8, 2004, the day of the first round of that year's Masters. The eight-time major winner hoped to figure out a way to honor Edwards at Augusta National, and the tribute has something to do with Masters cuisine. Edwards always used to save a Masters egg salad sandwich on the bench at the tee of the par-5 13th. So, Watson began bringing an egg salad sandwich to the tee each day, leaving the sandwich on the bench for Edwards.

"Bruce, I'll leave the egg salad sandwich on the 13th tee on that bench on Thursday," Watson said earlier his week. "He had ALS and he struggled and struggled. I saw him in February the year he died, and he checked out on the morning of the Masters. Just perfect, perfect timing for him. He checked out. He said, ‘All right, take it forward, Tom.' He loved the game. He loved to caddie and he loved to caddie here more than any place in the world."

Watson shot 2-over 74 on Thursday.

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is the founder, owner and operator of Golf News Net.

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