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Harris English is looking for his first major tournament victory at the 2025 British Open, but he is doing so without his caddie.
English is forced to play the tournament without his usual partner on the bag, which means he has to adjust on the fly as he tries to figure out Royal Portrush. Golfers and their caddies are typically a team, so English's last-minute change is another obstacle he must overcome during the Open Championship.
Forced to find a caddie on short notice, English is now using his second caddie in two weeks as he had a similar issue for the Scottish Open last week. Here's why English had trouble finding a bag partner for the final major.
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Who is Harris English's caddie?
English's usual caddie is Eric Larson, a long-time caddie who has worked with English since 2021. Larson has caddied full time for four golfers in his career, including Mark Calcavecchia, Anthony Kim, Jeff Overton and English.
At the Scottish Open, English had Jon Etter as his caddie, but Etter returned to caddy Davis Thompson for the Open Championship when Thompson received a last-minute bid. Instead, English has his putting coach, Ramon Bescansa, caddying for him at the British Open.
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Why Harris English's caddie was denied entry into UK
Eric Larson was unable to enter the United Kingdom beginning last week at the Scottish Open as he couldn't acquire an Electronic Travel Authority visa to travel to the United Kingdom. Beginning in January of 2025, U.S. Citizens were required to obtain an ETA visa for "short visits, tourism, or business" to enter the United Kingdom.
According to the Associated Press, Larson said he was unaware that he needed a visa until the U.S. Open, at which point he applied but was denied because he spent more than a year in prison on a drug conviction.
Larson hired a law firm to try and expedite the process, which usually takes up to six months, but he was unable to break through. Harris English said he's tried his best to help Larson, which included contacting the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., but they couldn't get Larson a visa.
"They wrote a letter. The R&A wrote a letter. The PGA Tour wrote a letter. A charity event Eric works for in the States (Operation New Hope) wrote a letter. It's not for a lack of effort," English said, via the AP. "I think it could be sitting on someone’s desk at the government somewhere."
English laments that he did his best to get Larson across the pond, and it is unfortunate he won't be there at all this week.
"I did everything I could to help," English said, via Bunkered. "He had a lot of people helping him out and I guess it just didn't get in the right hands or the right people to see that he is not a threat to society. That he's just going to be over here caddying for me for two weeks and helping me do the best I can to try to win an Open Championship. I think it is a bit silly. "
Eric Larson drug conviction
Thirty years ago, when he was Mark Calcavecchia's caddie, Eric Larson pled guilty to "sending cocaine to friends in the Midwest," according to the Associated Press. Larson spent 10 years and three months in prison before he was released from a halfway house in 2006. He then returned caddying for Calcavecchia in 2008, and this has been his profession ever since.
Despite Larson's past, English said he is proud to have the caddy by his side.
"Eric's story is impressive," English said. "He put his nose down in prison and got a degree and did all the things he was supposed to do and did it right. He's been locked up for ten years, so he knows what bad is like and there's no day on the golf course that he's not having a good time. I mean, he's not really proud of what he did. He knew he was in the wrong and he knew do the crime, do the time. He knew he messed up, but he's turned his life around and he’s been awesome."
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