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Harris English is currently in the running to automatically qualify for America’s Ryder Cup team, and he’ll be hoping to firm up his position when he competes in the British Open. However, he’s hit a snag ahead of the tournament due to an issue that could force him to find a new caddie to man the bag at the Royal Portrush.
It goes without saying that golfers would prefer to avoid unnecessary distractions when they’re preparing for a major—especially when that event has the potential to have some major ramifications on the Ryder Cup rankings.
As things currently stand, Harris English is sitting in 10th place on the list of American golfers in the running to earn one of the five remaining spots reserved for the guys who will get to compete at Bethpage Black in September based on their play (Scottie Scheffler has already qualified for one of the six automatic bids will be officially firmed up after the BMW Championship concludes next month).
English has plenty of work to do, as he trails Justin Thomas, the man currently in possession of the sixth and final slot, by more than 2,300 points (golfers earn a single point for every $1,000 they make at PGA Tour tournaments and majors).
He’ll still have the chance to become one of Keegan Bradley’s six captain’s picks if he comes up short, but he’d obviously prefer to control his own fate as opposed to leaving things to chance.
English has spent the past eight years employing Eric Nelson as his caddie, and his right-hand man has taken a pretty wild journey to get to where he is today.
Nelson started caddying after moving to Florida at the end of the 1970s and spent time working alongside PGA Tour players including Ken Green and Mark Calcavecchia.
However, his career was derailed in 1995 when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for selling cocaine he shipped in the mail from The Sunshine State to friends in the Midwest (he says he never used the drug himself) and ultimately served an 11-year stint before Calcavecchia gave him a second chance following his release in 2005.
Larson spent some time caddying for Anthony Kim and Tim Overton before linking up with English in 2017. He’s been able to travel across The Pond for the past four iterations of the British Open, but according to ESPN, the duo has hit a snag ahead of the 153rd edition of golf’s oldest major at Royal Portrush last week.
As of the start of 2025, Americans entering the United Kingdom are required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization permit that allows them to enter the country. It can be denied if an applicant has spent at least a year in prison, and Nelson discovered he had been rejected following the Travelers Championship last month.
English swiftly set out to attempt to rectify the situation by contacting the American ambassador to the U.K., saying:
“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. I think it could be sitting on someone’s desk at the government somewhere.”
As things currently stand, the decision has not been reversed, and English will be turning to Joe Etter (who usually caddies for David Thompson) at the Genesis Scottish Open this week. However, Thompson has also qualified for the British Open, which means English could be facing an awkward situation if the issue isn’t fixed in time.