Trump Pardons Caddie Eric Larson As DP World Tour Plots Dubai Contingency
A presidential pardon frees Harris English's caddie to return to the UK, while the DP World Tour lines up a Spanish fallback for its season finale and Presidents Cup captain Geoff Ogilvy makes the case for more independence from the PGA Tour.
Eric Larson, caddie to Harris English, has received a full and unconditional pardon from US President Donald Trump more than three decades after a cocaine dealing conviction that had barred him from working in Britain, according to Golf Monthly.
Larson served 11 years in prison for the offence and had been prevented from entering the UK to caddie for English at the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open Championship since 2024, when British immigration rules changed.
That restriction cost him a share of the reported $126,000 bonus English earned by finishing second at The Open in 2025.
The New York Post, which first reported the pardon, said it followed a round of golf Larson played with Trump last December, during which he explained his circumstances. The pardon was signed on September 3 and Trump telephoned Larson personally to tell him.
Larson told the Post he had gone through the Justice Department's formal pardon process, submitting his prison work record and character references. "I'm very fortunate. I'm grateful. I got a chance now," he said, adding that he wanted the decision judged "based on my merits, not because I know him" and stressing he had "done all the right things since Day One, since my crime."
Sotogrande lined up as Dubai fallback
The DP World Tour has identified Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande in Spain as a contingency venue for its end-of-season Playoffs finale, should the security situation in Dubai not be guaranteed in November, Spanish outlet Ten Golf has reported.
The ongoing conflict involving Iran has complicated the tour's plans for the climax of its season. Matt Fitzpatrick has said he would not be "100% comfortable" travelling to Dubai in the current circumstances, and has called switching host countries a "no-brainer" while acknowledging the complexity involved.
Under the reported contingency, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship would be scrapped and all 70 players who qualify for the Playoffs would instead compete in an expanded field at the DP World Tour Championship, hosted at Sotogrande, the regular venue for the Andalucia Masters.
For now, the tour's official plan remains to stage the season finale in the Middle East as scheduled, with the Spanish option held in reserve.
Ogilvy makes case for Presidents Cup independence
Ahead of this week's Presidents Cup at Medinah, International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy has suggested the event could benefit from greater separation between his side and the PGA Tour, which currently owns and operates both teams.
Speaking to Front Office Sports, Ogilvy said he was "not very well-schooled in corporate structure, but it would be advantageous to the event, I think, to get a little bit more separation between the two teams."
LIV Golf players such as Joaquin Niemann remain ineligible to represent the International Team under existing PGA Tour rules, a restriction that has shaped the strength of Ogilvy's squad this year. The former US Open champion said he was happy with the roster assembled for Medinah, while acknowledging the appeal of a wider player pool.
It would be nice to have access to pick from them, Ogilvy said of the LIV contingent, before adding: "But also not really because this group of players have been together, they play on the same tour—the PGA Tour—they have dinner, they play a lot of practice rounds, and it could upset the apple cart a little bit, too."
Ogilvy went on to say he hoped the sport's structure would eventually realign, allowing the Presidents Cup to return to something closer to how it used to operate.