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

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...