GAINESVILLE, Va. — Esther Henseleit has checked a lot of career goals off her professional golf bucket list throughout the 2024 season.

She earned her career-best finish in a major championship with her solo seventh showing at The Chevron Championship and then nearly matched it a few months later at The Amundi Evian Championship, ultimately tying for seventh in Evian-les-Bains, France.

She has made nearly $930,000 in season earnings, the most money that Henseleit has earned in a single year since joining the LPGA Tour in 2020.

In addition to her two top 10s in major championships, the 25-year-old has picked up two other top-10 finishes in 2024, and her four total this year tie her career record for top-10 results in a single season.

Most significantly, Henseleit qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at Le Golf National, becoming the first European in the history of the Olympic women’s golf competition to capture a medal of any kind when she earned silver in France.

And now, Henseleit is making her Solheim Cup debut as a rookie on the 2024 European Team.

“It's amazing to be here, to be part of this European Team,” said Henseleit. “It's definitely been a wild summer. Played some good golf, so it's nice to have qualified for this team and didn't need a pick.”

Henseleit is the sixth player from Germany to don the Blue and Yellow since the Solheim Cup began in 1990, joining the likes of Elisabeth Esterl, Sandra Gal, Bettina Hauert, Caroline Masson and Sophia Popov.

While she had plenty of experience representing Germany on a global level as an amateur, earning silver for her country at the Olympics and now playing for Europe in the Solheim Cup has been an entirely different experience for Henseleit. But these honors have bolstered her confidence as both a professional golfer and a 2024 Solheim Cup rookie.

“I felt like my hard work over the last few years kind of paid off, and everything came together a little bit,” said Henseleit, who carded a 72-hole total of 8-under at Le Golf National to take silver. “It's been great to see some good results coming in. It definitely helps my confidence.”

Like she did in Paris, Henseleit will have Reece Phillips on her bag, who is much more than just her caddie. He’s also her boyfriend.

The two have worked together professionally for quite some time, and Henseleit considers it an asset to have someone that she is close to carry her sticks, particularly as Reece sometimes knows her better than she knows herself and even more so considering some of the big stages on which she has found herself as of late.

“It's great to have Reece on my bag,” Henseleit said. “He knows me so well and knows what to say when I get a bit nervous or when I get a bit quick or down on myself. He just knows me so well, so he knows what to say in which moment. It's great to have someone with you all the time who really has your back.”

For most Solheim Cup rookies, the experience can generate some nervous energy, as an athlete might not know quite what to expect as a singular member of a 12-person team. But Henseleit has a measured coolness about her that will more than lend itself to the magnitude of this moment in Gainesville, Va., and that just might translate to more excellent golf from the German at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

“(I’m most looking forward to) probably being part of a team,” Henseleit said. “We play so much just for ourselves, so it's great to have 11 or 15, with the captains and everything, people behind you, and you're really a team and to experience that. The emotions are just so much higher this week, so I'm really looking forward to that.”

Olympic Silver Medalist Esther Henseleit Hoping for More Excellent Golf at Solheim Cup

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