France’s Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines After the KPMG PGA Championship in June, Reece Phillips and Esther Henseleit laid in bed and stared silently at the ceiling.
They’d done it.
They had secured one of Germany’s two Olympic qualification slots.
“I think we were in a state of shock,” Phillips says now.
The player is Henseleit. He is the caddy, Phillips. After Phillips started working as Henseleit is swing coach in 2021, the two started dating. They fell in love, stayed together, and pursued Henseleit is professional golf career.
There was always a view of the Olympics. Eight years ago, after watching the Rio Games on television, Henseleit set the objective. Henseleit, who is currently playing on the LPGA Tour, is having the best season of her career. She has made 11 of 16 cuts, posted two top-10 major finishes, and qualified for Paris, which was enough to start the narrative that took place on Saturday.
See, as recently as midday on Friday, most of what happened on Saturday was improbable. Henseleit began the competition with rounds of 73-72 (1-over), but after her front nine in the third round, she fell to 2-over, finishing outside the top 30 in the field of sixty players. Still, something started to stir. Henseleit made birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 16, and 18, catching a heater on the back. She unexpectedly finished Friday in a tie for thirteenth place.
Next was Saturday. The strategy? Do not hold anything in. Attack the flags. Win a medal or make a spectacular exit.
That is exactly what Henseleit carried out. The 25-year-old made the turn in 32, added a birdie on 10, gave one back at 12, and, on a day when few people at the top of the leaderboard made any noise, found herself in medal contention on the last stretch of the course in what is probably the best round of her career.
Midway through the final round, Lydia Ko, the tournament leader, stumbled while attempting to hold onto a five-shot lead. Henseleit, however, delivered “possibly the finest golf shot I have ever hit” to within 12 feet of the 17th green.
A birdie. Two shots off the lead. In position to medal.
Next came the eighteenth. a straight 300-yard drive along Champs-Élysées. Henseleit dropped her approach to 45 feet on the par-5 final hole, leaving herself only 150 yards away and making a two-putt birdie.
The Olympic Games’ 8-under clubhouse leader was the same player that started 2024 rated 11th in the world.
At that point, Henseleit and Phillips headed to the clubhouse and curled up on a couch. After exchanging glances, they burst out laughing. What took place?
Germany’s Esther Henseleit celebrates with her silver medal. A huge charge over the last 27 holes helped move her into medal position. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
For about 45 minutes, Henseleit and Phillips were side by side, waiting to see how Ko would finish, knowing, at worst, a spot on the final podium awaited, even if there was a playoff. The two could’ve, and maybe should’ve, gone to the practice range to stay warm, but they opted to stay put.
They sat there together. Fiancées.
In his home country of England, Phillips purchased the ring a year ago. He waited until right before Christmas, when they went to Henseleit is mother’s rural German home. He had a small place in mind for the offer.
“In the trees, by the lake,” he says. “That’d be our space forever.”
Phillips is quite the romantic, even if he can’t control the weather. “Oh, it was great, until it started absolutely pissing,” he laughs. But it all worked out. He brought the dog along, a little poof ball named Frida, as collateral. “She couldn’t say no with the dog sitting there,” he says.
Henseleit and Phillips took a call from Henseleit is putting coach in the clubhouse before putting their phones away. They concentrated on being in the moment and allowed it to pass them by.
It turns out that Phillips is good friends with Paul Cormack, Ko’s caddie, and Henseleit is good friends with Ko. Despite the possibility of winning a gold medal, the two supported Ko to complete the victory and induct her illustrious career into the LPGA Hall of Fame. If winning meant that Ko would have to give it up, Henseleit and Phillips did not want that.
“If there was one person I’d want to finish in front of me, it’s probably Lydia,” Henseleit said. “There are some players who you know are not going to mess up down the stretch. She’s definitely one of them. So I was happy just sitting there enjoying my silver medal.”
Henseleit later stated that the dream had not yet fully dawned on her. The medal. The instant. Everything. When she gave her press conference, there were still moments of incredulity. While all was going on, Phillips was out somewhere on the property, arranging an evening celebration with Henseleit is family, a German flag draped over his shoulders.
They hope to tie the knot at the end of the following summer. They have not had much time to prepare because Henseleit abruptly altered her career path, qualifying for both the Olympics and the European Solheim Cup team, and securing a berth on the team.
One choice seems obvious, though. Honeymoon in Paris, right?
“Eh, I think it’ll be on a beach,” Phillips said, “with the silver medal.”
(Top photo of Esther Henseleit and Reece Phillips: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
