SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – In June, after the KPMG PGA Championship, Esther Henseleit and Reece Phillips lay in bed and stared at the ceiling in silence.
They had done it.
They had secured one of the two German qualification places for the Olympics.
“I think we were in a state of shock,” Phillips says now.
Henseleit is the player. Phillips is the caddy. The two began dating in 2021 when Phillips began working as Henseleit’s swing coach. They got together and stayed together, falling in love and following Henseleit’s professional golf career.
The Olympics were always in her sights. Henseleit set that goal eight years ago after watching the Rio Games on television. Now playing on the LPGA Tour, she is in the midst of the best season of her career, with two top-10 finishes in majors and 11 of 16 cuts – enough to make it to Paris, enough to begin the storybook story that unfolded Saturday.
You see, what happened on Saturday was still largely unbelievable by midday Friday. After opening the tournament with rounds of 73-72 (1 over par), Henseleit fell to 2 over par after her first nine holes in the third round, finishing outside the top 30 of the 60-player field. But then something woke up. Henseleit hit the back of the net and made birdies on holes 11, 14, 16 and 18. Out of nowhere, she finished Friday tied for 13th.
Then Saturday came. The plan? Don’t hold back. Go for the flag. Win a medal or go down with a bang.
And that’s exactly what Henseleit did. In what was probably the best round of her career, the 25-year-old turned things around in 32 strokes, scored a birdie on hole 10, dropped one on hole 12 and found herself in the medal position on the final stretch of the course on a day when only a few of the leaders in the rankings were making a name for themselves.
As tournament leader Lydia Ko stumbled and tried to defend her five-stroke lead, Henseleit hit “probably the best golf shot I’ve ever made” at a distance of 3.66 meters on the 17th hole.
A birdie. Two strokes behind the leader. On the way to a medal.
Then the 18th. A 300-yard drive straight down the Champs-Élysées. With just 150 yards to the par-5 final hole, Henseleit shortened her approach shot to 45 feet and left the hole with a two-putt birdie.
The same player who began 2024 ranked 11th in the world was the Olympics clubhouse leader at 8 under par.
Then Henseleit and Phillips made their way to the clubhouse and collapsed onto a sofa together. They looked at each other and started laughing. What had happened?
German Esther Henseleit celebrates her silver medal. An enormous comeback on the last 27 holes helped her to a medal position. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
For about 45 minutes, Henseleit and Phillips stood side by side waiting to see how Ko would perform, knowing that even if there was a playoff, the worst that could happen was that he would be on the podium. The two could have, and perhaps should have, gone to the practice area to warm up, but they decided to stay there.
They sat there together. Engaged.
Phillips bought the ring in his native England last year. He waited until Christmas, when the two traveled to Henseleit’s mother’s house in the German countryside. He had a small venue in mind for the proposal.
“In the trees, by the lake,” he says. “That would be our place forever.”
Phillips is quite a romantic, even though he can’t control the weather. “Oh, it was great until it started to rain properly,” he laughs. But it all worked out. He brought the dog, a small plush ball named Frida, as a backup. “She couldn’t say no when the dog was sitting there,” he says.
In the clubhouse, Henseleit and Phillips answered a call from Henseleit’s putting coach, then put their phones away, focusing on being present and taking in the moment.
As it turns out, Henseleit is close friends with Ko and Phillips is close with Ko’s caddie, Paul Cormack. Despite knowing that a gold medal could potentially fall to them, the two had their fingers crossed that Ko would complete the victory and take her legendary career where it belongs – in the LPGA Hall of Fame. Henseleit and Phillips weren’t going to win if it meant Ko had to give it up.
“If there was one person I would want to have ahead of me, it would probably be Lydia,” said Henseleit. “There are some players who you know don’t make mistakes on the home stretch. She’s definitely one of them. So I was just happy to sit there and enjoy my silver medal.”
Afterwards, Henseleit said she hadn’t quite grasped the dream yet. The medal. The moment. Everything. During her press conference, she was still in disbelief. Meanwhile, Phillips was somewhere on the grounds, a German flag draped around her shoulders, planning an evening celebration with Henseleit’s family.
As for the wedding, they hope it will take place at the end of next summer. They didn’t have much time to plan, as Henseleit was able to completely turn her career around and not only qualify for the Olympics, but also secure a place on the European Solheim Cup team.
However, one choice seems obvious: honeymoon in Paris, right?
“Uh, I think it will be on a beach,” Phillips said, “with the silver medal.”
(Top photo of Esther Henseleit and Reece Phillips: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
