Harris English won’t have his regular caddie carrying his bag at the Scottish Open and potentially the British Open, too.
Eric Larson, who has looped for English since 2017, has been unable to obtain a new Electronic Travel Authority visa for entry into the United Kingdom, as first reported by the Associated Press.
His troubles stem from a conviction 30 years ago, when Larson pleaded guilty to shipping cocaine to friends. He was imprisoned for 10 years and was released from a halfway house in 2006. He then caddied for Mark Calcavecchia, Anthony Kim and Jeff Overton.
Larson applied for the visa during the week of the U.S. Open, but was rejected because someone who has been convicted of a criminal offense and served at least one year in prison can be denied.
“I just want to get to the British Open to help Harris,” Larson, who caddied in the last four British Opens, told the AP.
There have been steps taken to make that happen. Larson hired a London-based law firm to help expedite the visa process, but hasn’t heard anything in two weeks. English also revealed they contacted Warren Stephens, the United States’s ambassador to the U.K., who got them in touch with his chief of staff.
“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. “I think it could be sitting on someone’s desk at the government somewhere.”
Joe Etter is caddying for English, the world No. 19, this week. Etter usually works for Davis Thompson, who isn’t in the Scottish Open. However, last week, Thompson earned a spot in the British Open, so if Larson can’t make it, English will have to find someone else for the year’s final major.
“It’s just a matter of the right people seeing [the letters],” English said. “I didn’t understand how complicated the process was. Someone could see this guy had something in his past 30 years ago, he’s been fine the last 20. How long does this stay with him?”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Harris English’s Caddie Denied Entry Into U.K. Due to Conviction 30 Years Ago.
