Harris English is tied atop the leaderboard after the first round at the 2025 Open Championship, but the longtime veteran of the PGA Tour is making his way around Royal Portrush without his normal caddie. Eric Larson has been on English’s bag since 2021, helping him win three of five times on the PGA Tour while posting a number of strong finishes in majors, including a T2 at the PGA Championship earlier this year.
However, this week, English’s putting coach Ramon Bescansa is looping for him in Northern Ireland due to Larson getting his visa application denied.
While Larson has been on the bag for numerous Opens, a new law in the United Kingdom requires Americans to acquire an Electronic Travel Authority visa. One of the grounds for denial of that visa is a criminal conviction that results in 12 or more months served in prison.
Thirty years ago, Larson was convicted of selling cocaine and served 10 years in jail before being released in 2006. He got his start as a caddie for Mark Calcavecchia, looping for numerous pros since before finding a steady bag with English as the two have formed a strong partnership on the course.
English tried everything he could to get Larson approved for the visa — enlisting the PGA Tour, the R&A and the U.S. Ambassador’s office to write letters appealing for his approval — to no avail, per the Associated Press.
“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 at the Scottish Open. “I think it could be sitting on someone’s desk at the government somewhere.”
English spoke with Bunkered this week after learning the appeal had been denied feeling the situation was “silly.”
“I did everything I could to help,” English said. “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.
“We’ve had a good major run. I mean, 12th in the Masters, second in the PGA, didn’t play great at Oakmont [US Open], but I made the cut. It is what it is, but it sucks. He’s just disappointed. I think he had a lot of optimism that he was going to be able to come over.”
English seems to have turned an unfortunate situation into a bit of motivation. His first-round performance was fantastic, and at one point, he took the solo lead at 5 under before coming back to the pack.
English noted that Larson’s best quality is his ability to make everything fun. Now, he’ll have to find a way to navigate the stress of a weekend in contention for a major without that familiar, calming voice by his side.