North Berwick, Scotland – Harris English will spend the Scottish Open and Open Championship in the next two weeks, two matches that may be crucial for his match in another Ryder Cup match.
His caddie, Eric Larson, was trapped at home and unable to obtain a new e-tourism visa to travel to the UK, a regulation that now applies to Americans.
Reasons for denial include an applicant who was convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or overseas who served 12 months or more in prison.
Thirty years ago, Larson pleaded guilty to his Midwest friend Pai Cocaine. He spent 10 years and three months in prison and was released midway in June 2006.
Mark Calcavecchia hired him to get him up. Since then, Larson has worked with three players in the Ryder Cup – Anthony Kim in 2008, Jeff Overton in 2010 and most recently, English, with whom he has worked with over the past eight years.
“I think Britain is not high in his past times,” he said on Tuesday at the Revival Club. “Obviously this is an ongoing work.”
English ranked 19th in the world and 10th in the US in the Ryder Cup, and he said he didn’t realize Larson’s plight until after he finished fourth in the Travelers Championship three weeks ago.
English said he had contacted British Ambassador Warren Stephens, who kept in touch with his chief of staff.
“They wrote a letter. R&A wrote a letter. PGA Tour wrote a letter. Charity Event Eric wrote a letter in the United States. It’s not because of a lack of effort,” English said. “I think it might be sitting on someone’s desk somewhere in the government.”
Joe Etter is currently filling his caddies. Etter, who started working in English more than a decade ago, currently worked for Davis Thompson, who did not compete in this week’s Scottish Open.
However, Thompson won his last place in the open title next week at Royal Porthush in Northern Ireland.
“Joe is my plan B,” said English. “Now we will have to get a new plan.”
English hopes someone paves the way for Larson to get the ETA visa he needs in the UK. Larson has worked for the English Championships in the Open Championships and has previously played for Overton and Kim.
“It’s just a question that the right person sees,” he said. “I don’t understand how complicated the process is. Someone can see that this person has something in the last 30 years ago and he’s been fine in the last 20 years. How long has it been with him?”
