POTUS’s love for golf might have changed a life this time. Harris English played the last two Open Championships without his regular caddie, Eric Larson, and the reason had nothing to do with golf. The case dates back to the 90s, and the fallout has been consequential, but after a long wait, both English and his caddie have both spoken about the matter.
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English’s caddie isn’t allowed to enter the United Kingdom because of a conviction from the 1990s. There were requests from the golfer himself and a letter of support from USGA and R&A. But nothing really worked. So Larson took the next step: appealing for a presidential pardon through the official channel, the Justice Department’s pardon office. The good news came earlier this month, and Larson has now spoken about what the pardon means to him
“I’m very fortunate. I am grateful I got a chance now [to travel to the UK],” Larson told the New York Post. “I’ve done all the right things since Day One, since my crime. I didn’t work for 11 years. And I enjoy it, and I’m caddying for one of the best young players in the game, and I’m not done yet. As long as I can still caddy, I’ll caddy. As long as I’m walking and as long as Harris has me.”
Larson left a halfway house in 2006 after serving his federal sentence for drug trafficking. Although he never used coca*ne, he was put behind bars for obtaining and shipping it to his friends outside Florida.
He got an 11-year sentence once his supplier turned him in. Since then he has turned his life around by caddying for Mark Calcavecchia, Anthony Kim, and now Harris English. The problem, however, started recently.
Harris English is hopeful about Larson’s chances for overseas travel
In 2025, the UK began refusing him entry under its Electronic Travel Authorization requirement due to his past conviction. Every effort to reverse the decision failed.
English was baffled and angry at the UK government for not letting Larson caddie for him at the Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Now, English finally breathed a sigh of relief when he got the call.
“I’m just so pumped for Eric that he can have his rights back . . . and travel to be by my side and work for me specifically at the Scottish Open and the British Open,” the PGA Tour pro was quoted as saying by the New York Post. “He knows what it’s like to have your freedom taken away. He just brings so much joy.”
Trump signed his full pardon on September 3, one of more than two dozen he issued that day, according to Bob Harig of the Daily Drive. The White House did not publicize it, but Trump, reportedly, phoned Larson and English himself to deliver news.
Larson said he met Donald Trump as early as 2009 while caddying for Anthony Kim and Jeff Overton. But those meetings, he added, stayed strictly personal. He also maintains the pardon was granted based on his credentials rather than his acquaintance with the president.
Does the presidential pardon guarantee an entry into the UK?
In short, the pardon forgives the federal offense and removes certain legal disabilities imposed because of Larson’s conviction, including restrictions on voting and jury service. While the veteran caddie now has full relief in the United States, the UK entry is still not confirmed. Nevertheless, it gives Larson more hope.
“I’ve got a presidential pardon. How are they not going to let me in?” Larson told the Daily Drive in a phone interview. “But it’s possible. Now it’s more of a stronger argument.”
He must apply for a standard visitor visa, and only time will tell if the UK government changes its stance. The rejection also cost him an opportunity to caddie at prestigious venues as well as a significant payday.
As the New York Post reported, Harris English finished second in the 2025 Open without him, so Larson missed out on roughly $126,000 in payment. The Presidential pardon might just give him the chance to travel to St. Andrews, which is slated to host the 2027 Open Championship. As for the pardon, Larson’s case is not the first time golf figures have appeared around a Trump clemency decision.
Trump’s 2021 Clemency for Billy Walters
As his first term ended in January 2021, Trump commuted the sentence of Las Vegas sports bettor Billy Walters. Walters had been convicted in 2017 of insider trading in the Dean Foods stock case and sentenced to five years. The White House said Phil Mickelson, Butch Harmon, David Feherty, and Peter Jacobsen supported the commutation.
The list drew attention because of Mickelson’s own history with the case. In 2016, as a relief defendant, he agreed to repay more than $931,000 in Dean Foods trading profits, plus about $105,000 in interest. He faced no criminal charges, and the day after the White House release, Mickelson’s lawyer said, “Phil had nothing to do with this.”
A commutation shortened Walters’ sentence but left the conviction on his record, which is a clear difference from Larson’s pardon.
For Larson, the next date that matters is July 15, 2027, when The Open begins at St Andrews. Harris English told the Post he wants Larson beside him at both the Scottish Open and the Open. Whether the pardon can help him do that remains to be seen.