Colin Byrne's Column: Saturday afternoon at Olympia Fields Golf Club and Nick Price and Tom Watson took the tee for the third round of the US Open.

The crowds were 10 deep and mouthy as only an American crowd can be at a sports event. "Go Tom Watson the purple people eater," bellowed a spectator as Watson strode down the fairway in his deep purple polo shirt.

There was an expectant buzz among the crowd for the duo whose collective age was over a century. Whether they were genuinely aware, they were following two of the games kindest and most honourable of gentlemen.

Tom of course had set the early pace in the event on Thursday with a blistering round of vintage Watson with a 65. He was still very much in contention going into the third round. His caddie of 30 years, Bruce Edwards, walked down the first alongside Tom with his usual relaxed and flowing stride.

There were as many "Go Bruces" from the crowd as "Go Toms". Bruce looks like a golf bag belongs on his right shoulder. He has got the shoulders that would make him an obvious candidate for such a profession, no wonder that he has enjoyed such a lengthy career.

Watson is an old-style pro. He doesn't ask much extra information from his bagman, but when he does he expects a good answer. Bruce has obviously developed a deep understanding with his boss, there was not much verbal communication between the two on the course but there was a tacit empathy that only they really could understand. Encouragement when appropriate and silence when necessary.

Price, in an interview before his third round, was asked about his feelings on his pairing with Watson and his terminally ill caddie Bruce. Nick had lost his long standing caddie Squeaky to leukemia six years ago.

Caddie/player relationships in general don't last long. It is a sign of something special in a partnership that spans three decades.

With a three-year break in 1989 to '92 to go and work for the then world-beater Greg Norman with Watson's consent, Bruce didn't take long to recognise that quality of relationship was more important to him than the success that both he and the Shark shared.

Price talked of the time spent with a caddie and the moments that only the two can share, whether it is a well-selected three-iron to the final green on a Friday to just make the cut or a good read on the final green on Sunday to win a tournament.

There were many such moments with Squeaky. A indication of the strength of their partnership was that Price set up a test centre at US tournaments back in 1996 to try to find an appropriate blood donor for his caddie.

Despite Watson's obvious competitive instinct and will to succeed, he got to relive some of the magical moments of his life with Bruce through that first round.

More importantly he got to publicise the need to look for a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Edwards was diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord last January. It paralyses the body while often leaving minds unaffected. Watson has been more than generous in helping Bruce with his medical expenses.

I saw Bruce last March at Sawgrass where he was working for John Cook in the Players Championship. He was looking a little thinner than I remembered him.

Bruce has always looked relatively youthful and still does in his 48th year. He has got boyish looks and always wears a big smile. His speech has got more difficult to understand. He says "I sound like the village drunk, but to hell with that, I love what I do, I love working for Tom."

Bruce was interviewed on ESPN after Watson's opening dream round. His face was full of the joy he had shared that day with Tom.

He said, with tears in his eyes, that knowing Tom as he does he wouldn't be surprised if he did it all for him.

Having watched Tom shed a tear as he summed up his week and quietly whispered that he just wants to try to get something for Bruce, you know he did.

While the rest of the caddie shack whines about missed putts and missed cuts, Bruce Edwards remains a bright shining face of courage and determination.

I have seen more caddies with clean bills of health looking less capable out on the fairways at Olympia Fields last week.

With his sinewy digits notching down numbers in his yardage book while the bag rested easy on his ample shoulders he was doing the job for Tom just like he has done for the last three decades.

It is unlikely that it was sheer coincidence that the Watson/ Edwards partnership enjoyed such an inspirational US Open.

"I am trying to show other people to keep going," he said earlier this week. You are succeeding Bruce, keep going.