Last year’s Open runner-up will be without his right-hand man again at Royal Birkdale. And, as Ben Parsons found out, he is not happy about it.
Harris English knew he needed to head across the Atlantic with a Plan B. The American Ryder Cup player just wished he never had to use it.
But last week, just before his scheduled flight for a fortnight that will see him play the Scottish Open and Open Championship, English’s caddie Eric Larson found out that once again he wouldn’t be able to travel.
For consecutive years now, Larson has been denied entry into the UK as he is unable to clear the Electronic Travel Authority Visa, which is required for Americans. New rules stipulate that applicants who have committed a crime which carries a 12-month prison sentence can be refused entry.
Larson is being denied because of drug convictions more than 30 years ago. He served 10 years and three months in prison for sending cocaine to friends in the Midwest, before being fully released in 2006 and turning his life around. Mark Calcavecchia, the former Open champion, re-hired Larson after his imprisonment and he has since worked at Ryder Cups with English, Anthony Kim and Jeff Overton.
But because of his historic indiscretions, the UK – and crucially golf’s oldest major – is now out of reach for Larson.
“He was due to fly on Saturday and found out maybe on Friday, which is just disappointing,” English tells TG after arriving here at the Renaissance Club for the $9 million Rolex Series event without his right-hand man. “He’s a big part of my team. He has been for a long time now, and it’s just disappointing that they can’t figure out something.”
Last year, Larson said he didn’t realize until a month before the Open that he required the new visa. When it was denied, the PGA Tour and the R&A wrote letters vouching for Larson, while English also reached out to Warren Stephens, the US Ambassador to the UK.
This year, attempts to get Larson across the Atlantic were similarly arduous.
“He went through the same process, hired a lawyer and went through all the correct things to do to try to get approved for his visa, and unfortunately it got refused again,” English says. “He knew what to expect and getting ahead of it a little earlier, he paid for it to get expedited. It really wasn’t expedited. He only found out that he got refused maybe a day before he was coming over here.
“He doesn’t know what else to do. He’s tried everything. We’ve contacted a lot of people to try to help him out, and I don’t understand why. He’s been an outstanding citizen of the United States for a long time. He can still travel a lot of countries, and he’s not going to bother anybody. He’s over here to do the job, and that’s helped me a lot in the last nine years. I just wish it would be a little easier for him.”
English’s frustration that he cannot have his longtime friend and looper on the bag for the final major of the season is palpable. The irony last year was that English had his best-ever Open result at Royal Portrush, finishing second behind Scottie Scheffler. Instead, he had his putting coach Ramon Bescansa on the bag in Northern Ireland, with Larson missing out on his share of his boss’s $1.75 million earnings.
“Eric’s been over here a number of times caddying for me in the Scottish and The Open,” English, a five-time PGA Tour winner, explains. “I don’t know why all of a sudden he’s not able to come over. He’s put a lot of time and effort into it. He has so much credibility. I’ll stand by that man for anything. He’s done a lot for my career. We’ve been together for nine years, and I hate it that he’s not able to come over here.
“It just seems that he’s still being punished for something he did a long time ago, and to me, he paid his price spending 10 years in prison, and he’s still being hurt for that, and he’s gotten his life turned around. He’s an integral part of my team, and he’s helped me out tremendously over the last nine years, and it’s just disappointing that he can’t come over and be on the bag.”
Fortunately, English had made contingency plans. He reached out to Geno Bonnalie – the former caddie of Joel Dahmen and star of Netflix’s Full Swing – to caddie for him this week in North Berwick and then will have his coach Bescansa back on his bag next week at Royal Birkdale.
“I was very optimistic that Eric was going to come over,” English says, “but you’ve always got to have a Plan B in place in case it doesn’t happen because it’s totally out of my hands. I’m happy that Geno’s able to help and Ramon’s able to help next week, and we’re going to see if we can get in the mix for these tournaments.”
Article originally appeared on: Todays-Golfer.com