Trump Pardons PGA Caddie Barred From British Open

President Donald Trump has pardoned PGA Tour caddie Eric Larson for a decades-old drug conviction that had prevented him from entering the United Kingdom, according to multiple reports. The pardon gives Larson a path back to overseas tournaments after he missed the 2025 British Open while his golfer, Harris English, finished second.

The conviction followed him long after prison

The New York Post reported that Larson served 11 years in prison for a cocaine-dealing conviction from roughly three decades ago. Although he had long since completed his sentence and returned to professional golf as a caddie, the criminal record created a new obstacle when British entry rules prevented him from traveling for the Open.

TMZ separately reported that the pardon was intended to remove that barrier and allow Larson to work PGA events in Britain again. The White House did not initially issue a major public announcement around the action, making the sports consequence more visible than the usual ceremony surrounding a presidential pardon.

Missing the Open carried a real financial cost

English finished second at the 2025 British Open while Larson was unable to caddie for him. The Post reported that Larson missed a potential six-figure payday tied to that finish, illustrating how an old conviction was still affecting his current livelihood decades later.

Larson later applied through the federal pardon process and submitted records and letters supporting his rehabilitation, according to the coverage. Trump ultimately granted the pardon and personally informed Larson of the decision.

A political power changed a sports career

The story lands in an unusual place between golf and presidential authority. Larson was not seeking to erase a recent sports penalty or league suspension. He needed relief from a federal conviction because it was blocking the international travel required for his job.

The pardon changes that practical reality. Larson can now try to return to the British Open and other U.K. events with English, turning a 30-year-old legal record into a current sports story with a clear before-and-after consequence.

References: Trump pardons golf caddy whose drug-dealing conviction kept him from British Open: ‘I got a chance now’