After 1,308 days of a long wait since his last win at the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions, Harris English secured his fifth PGA Tour title at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open. Fresh off the high of his win and the following strong finishes, English said at the 2025 PGA Championship, “I’m excited about getting over there. I love The Open Championship. I love links golf.” However, as per the recent news, a particular update has likely dampened Harris English’s “excitement” ahead of The Open Championship.

Harris English is preparing for the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, but his longtime caddie Eric Larson won’t be joining him due to a denied UK visa. Larson has served as English’s trusted caddie for eight years. So, why then? As per the recent update, Eric Larson is unable to travel to the U.K. because he cannot secure a new Electronic Travel Authority visa, a requirement now imposed on Americans. Reasons for denial include having a criminal conviction in the U.K. or abroad for which the individual served 12 months or more in prison.

Here’s what went down with Eric Larson: Thirty years ago, Larson admitted to sending cocaine to friends in the Midwest and served 10 years and three months in prison, after which he was released from a halfway house in June 2006. Since then, he has not faced any recent problems traveling across the Atlantic to caddie for English in the Open Championships. However, history is still clinging to him.

Talking about the same, Harris English said Tuesday at The Renaissance Club, “I guess the United Kingdom doesn’t look highly on his past. And apparently it’s a work in progress.” However, English got to know of this only three weeks ago at the 2025 Travelers Championship. Following that, English reached out to Warren Stephens, the ambassador to the U.K., who put him 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 wrote a letter. It’s not for a lack of effort,” English explained.

This week at the Genesis Scottish Open, Harris English will team up with Joe Etter, Davis Thompson’s caddie, but he’s still searching for a new looper for The Open Championship if Eric Larson’s visa issue isn’t resolved. Of course, that leaves him disappointed. English said of the situation, “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?” Larson has caddied for English at the Open Championship for the past four years, but he’s likely to miss out this time.

The PGA Tour has encountered similar situations before. Notably, Angel Cabrera faced a visa issue ahead of the 2024 Masters, having been temporarily denied entry due to a 2021 conviction that led to his imprisonment. Despite this, Cabrera was eventually able to participate in the Masters, marking his first appearance in six years. However, let’s hope this recent hiccup doesn’t impact Harris English’s Ryder Cup aspirations!

Harris English does not want to have any Ryder Cup FOMO

During a June interview with The Loop podcast, Harris English got a little honest about his Ryder Cup hopes. Talking about the same, the five-time PGA Tour winner said, “The Ryder Cup is definitely on my list. I’m not getting any younger, I’m about to turn 36 this summer. I had an unbelievable time at Whistling Straits [in 2021].” 

Harris English, currently ranked 19th in the world and 10th in the U.S. standings for the Ryder Cup, finds himself in a familiar position. Four years ago, he received a captain’s pick while holding the same 10th-place ranking. At that time, English was on a hot streak, having won twice that season and playing the best golf of his career before a hip injury disrupted his momentum.

Now, he appears to have recaptured that form, securing a win this season at Torrey Pines, followed by a T-12 finish at the Masters and a T-2 finish at the PGA, which solidifies his Ryder Cup prospects. Most recently, he finished T4 at the 2025 Travelers Championship. So, both his confidence and chances of making it into the Ryder Cup are looking strong.

During the podcast, he continued, “It’s just something where, once you make one of those teams, you never want to miss them again. You get serious FOMO, you know how much fun they are. It’s really the pinnacle of our sport. You don’t really get that feeling a whole lot in golf of being on that first tee in a Ryder Cup.” Hopefully, we will get to see Harris English with Eric Larson during this next big thing!