When tickets to the inaugural Augusta National Invitation Tournament were handed out in downtown Augusta, Ga., in 1934, Thomas Bailey, 18, gleefully accepted them, his attendance starting a spring tradition that officially closed on Monday with his death at 94. Dr. Bailey, an Augusta pediatrician, attended the Masters every year from its inception, 73 tournaments in all. Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle has the story here./p>
His death was imminent in the aftermath of a series of strokes he suffered after his 94th birthday last October, and had he survived, it's unlikely he would have extended his streak this April, according to his daughter Georgia Bailey Usry.
"It was only appropriate he meet his maker before April," Usry said.
-- John Strege
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