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PGA caddy Eric Larson is finally out of the rough.
He served 11 years in prison for dealing cocaine, and was barred from working in the UK because of the 30-year-old conviction — but a sudden presidential pardon finally frees him to take part in some of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments across the pond.
“I’m very fortunate. I’m grateful. I got a chance now,” said Larson, 66, who carries the clubs of American golfer Harris English.
Larson’s problem emerged when the British government changed its immigration laws two years ago to require an electronic authorization for travelers — something he had been denied due to his past conviction.
As a result, he was prevented from caddying for English at the British Open in 2025 – when he came in second and earned a $1.8 million payday.
Caddies usually earn a 7% commission from their golfer’s purse if they finish in the top 10 of a tourney. For The Open it would have amounted to about $126,000 for Larson.
The White House didn’t announce the pardon, which Trump issued a week before he flew to his Doonbeg Irish course.
But Trump party-phoned a stunned Larson and English, 37, to deliver the news after he inked it Sept. 3.
“I’m just so pumped for Eric that he can have his rights back . . . and travel to be by my side and work for me specifically at the Scottish Open and the British Open,” English told The Post. “He knows what it’s like to have your freedom taken away. He just brings so much joy.”
Larson first got to know Trump through PGA and LIV golfer Anthony Kim, for whom he previously caddied.
English and Larson golfed with Trump in December at Trump National golf course in West Palm Beach, where English says Larson told the president about his situation. “I’m happy that Trump kind of heard us and probably did a lot of his research on it,” he said.
Golfing with the president is a long way from his life in the 1980s and early 1990s, when he says he found ways to obtain cocaine in Florida and shipped it to friends and acquaintances across state lines, which ultimately got him a longer sentence after a supplier turned him in. He says he never used the drug.
“As much as this is for me, it’s support of people that have supported me as well to to show them that, you know, I’ve done all the right things to improve myself and and you know be to be forgiven and get on with my life.”
Larson is mindful of press reports of people paying huge fees to brokers and in some cases scammers promising to deliver pardons – and says his own situation is different.
He says he made a formal application through the Justice Department’s pardon office – the official channel, providing documents showing his prison work and letters vouching for him.
“I’ve met Trump before with the golfers. He loves golf. The Department of Justice went through all my paperwork and all my prison paperwork. It went through the process,” he said. “I want it to be based on my merits, not because I know him.”
“I’ve done all the right things since Day One, since my crime,” he said.
Now, the Appleton, Wis., native – one of the older caddies on the circuit – is making up for lost time.
“I didn’t work for 11 years. And I enjoy it and I’m caddying for one of the best young players in the game, and I’m not done yet. As long as I can still caddy, I’ll caddy. As long as i’m walking and as long as Harris has me.”
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