LYTHAM ST ANNES, England — Germany’s Esther Henseleit played her way into contention on Moving Day at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club, firing a 4-under 67 to climb into the top five with 18 holes remaining at the year’s final major championship.

Henseleit began the day in a tie for 20th at even par and landed two quick blows on the par-4 second and par-4 third holes to hurry up the leaderboard to 2-under. Her next birdie came on the par-5 sixth hole, an effort that saw Esther move to 3-under, and the Olympic medalist then added to her birdie tally on the par-3 ninth hole to turn in 31.

Henseleit next found her fifth birdie of the day on No. 11, and at that point in Saturday’s third round, the German seemed poised to either match or give Ayaka Furue’s 6-under 65 a run for its money as the lowest score of the day. But the 27-year-old dropped a shot on the tricky par-4 15th hole to slip back to 4-under for the tournament, a 54-hole total that has her tied for second heading into the final round.

“(My ball-striking was) very good again. Very solid,” said Henseleit. “Didn't really get in too much trouble, which is kind of the key to this golf course. Managed to hole some good putts today, so very happy with my result.”

While her goals are obvious on Sunday in England—to win both her first major championship and LPGA Tour event—there are much larger implications for Henseleit and her European counterparts vying to make the 2026 Solheim Cup Team if she manages to have another strong performance on day four.

Entering the AIG Women’s Open, Esther was already primed to qualify for the squad because of her position in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (43). But a solo second or better result at Royal Lytham and St Annes would move her into the second spot on the European LET Solheim Cup Points List, knocking Chiara Tamburlini out of one of the two automatic qualifying spots given to athletes who finish with the most points at the end of the qualification period.

That would leave Tamburlini needing a pick from 2026 Captain Anna Nordqvist, as she came into this major tournament at 100th in the Rolex Rankings and will be unable to move into one of the six spots awarded to the Euros who are best in the Rolex Rankings after missing the cut in England.

Henseleit made her rookie debut in the Solheim Cup back in 2024, and after getting to experience the team event when it was held in the United States at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club that year, the German is excited about the opportunity to play in this year’s Cup in the Netherlands, as it’s located not too far from her home country.

Henseleit’s confidence in her form was substantially bolstered by a fourth-place showing at last week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, and now that she is in contention for a second consecutive week, albeit at a major championship, that Solheim Cup berth is unlikely to slip from Esther’s grasp.

“It's the last week for the qualifying, and I really want to be part of that team,” Esther said. “I feel like last week helped. And, of course, I'm hoping that my good play this week will secure my spot on the team.

Henseleit is currently poised to tally her career-best result in a major tournament at the AIG Women’s Open, having never before finished better than seventh, which she did in 2024 at The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods. She also tied for seventh in The Amundi Evian Championship that same year, what are the only two top-10 major results she’s had since joining the LPGA Tour in 2021.

Esther is among a logjam of athletes in a tie for second at 4-under, the most notable of whom are Rolex Rankings No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and the Republic of Korea’s Haeran Ryu, who is one of two athletes to win two majors this season alongside Nelly Korda. They all trail American Yealimi Noh by three strokes and will need to move quickly in the final round if they have any hopes of catching the LPGA Tour winner coming down the stretch.

But Henseleit has no intentions of changing her mental game plan in order to do so. She will simply stick to what’s worked well for her thus far and enjoy the warmth of the spotlight at one of the biggest tournaments in all of golf, having put herself in an excellent position to represent the Europeans for a second time at the Solheim Cup in September.

Esther Henseleit In Contention at AIG Women’s Open with Solheim Cup Berth on Her Mind

Related Articles