Harris English had a stellar start to the opening round at Royal Portrush. He quietly surged into contention at the 2025 Open, carding a 4-under round, tying for the lead with four others, including Matt Fitzpatrick. English is eyeing his first major and his second win of the season after his win in February at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open. But even as English fights for the Claret Jug this week, there’s someone important missing. His regular looper, Eric Larson.
Post the round, English expressed his thoughts on Larson being denied the visa to enter the UK. English stated how he’s trying to make things work with his longtime putting coach, Ramon Bescansa, on his bag. “Yeah, it’s tough. Every player or caddie has their different cadence of how they like things. Luckily for Ramon, he’s been working with me for so long and watched me play, watched me hit balls, so he kind of knows what I like, and I feel like we kind of got that right out of the gate. These practice rounds really worked on it, and very comfortable with how he was delivering the information,” he shared with the media.
But Larson not being on the bag has been tough for English, as they have been together for nearly nine years now. Their run has resulted in four top-10 finishes at major championships and three wins on the PGA Tour. “But it is different. You get so used to — Eric has been caddying for me for eight, nine years now, be and you get so used to having that one guy of how he does everything, from little stuff of where he puts the Sharpies and markers and he always has tees in his pocket and just little stuff. You get used to that, but Ramon did awesome today,” English said.
While he appreciates the effort Bescansa has been putting in, English misses the little gestures that Larson made, that only a long-time bagman would do. For instance, putting Sharpies, markers, and tees in his pocket. Unfortunately, Larson was denied entry into the UK due to a 30-year-old drug conviction that has come back to haunt him. Larson spent a decade in prison for dealing coc**ne before turning his life around and re-entering the game as a caddie.
A perfect putt from Harris English.
His sixth birdie of the day moves him to four-under. pic.twitter.com/IZ8Tgb1PWt
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025
Per new rules, Eric was unable to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) visa. Those rules now allow the UK government to refuse entry to anyone with a criminal conviction that resulted in a prison sentence of 12 months or more—a category Larson falls into. For a similar reason, Larson missed caddying for English last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, where he finished tied for 22nd. However, English knows that despite Eric not being present at Portrush, he would be thrilled at his opening round.
“I have. I’ve been texting him earlier in the week. I’m sure he’ll give me a big pump-up text after today’s round. I’m sure he’s watching every shot, and disappointed that he’s not here. But hopefully we can get it worked out for next year,” English confessed to the media. “I miss having him. He has one of the best attitudes I’ve ever seen.” Eric’s absence is telling, as Larson was not just his caddie but his confidant. And English did everything he could to help Larson get his visa.
Harris English did all he could to help Eric Larson
Harris English, feeling incomplete without Larson by his side, even while leading golf’s oldest major, is a powerful testament to the strength of their relationship. But English did his best to help with Larson’s visa. “We just couldn’t figure it out,” English said. He learnt of Larson’s visa trouble at the Travelers Championship last month, where English finished tied 4th, and tried doing everything in his power to help.
“Eric told me after the Travelers [Championship] that he was having trouble getting in the country with these new visa that they started and got denied the first time. Then he hired a law firm and the PGA Tour wrote a letter, the R&A wrote a letter, I wrote a letter. We tried to appeal it and the government came back and said no again,” he expressed in dismay.
“I did everything I could to help. He had a lot of people helping him out and I guess it just didn’t get in the right hands or the right people to see that he is not a threat to society. That he’s just going to be over here caddying for me for two weeks and helping me do the best I can to try to win an Open Championship. I think it is a bit silly,” English voiced his view that the policy, while perhaps well-intentioned, didn’t make sense.
For now, English presses on, driven in part by the absence of his friend and the story they’ve shared. Whether or not he lifts the Claret Jug on Sunday, this Open is already a testament to resilience in more ways than one.
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