SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Back in June, following the KPMG PGA Championship, Esther Henseleit and Reece Phillips lay in bed, staring at the ceiling in silence.
They’d done it.
They’d clinched one of two German qualifying spots for the Olympics.
“I think we were in a state of shock,” Phillips says now.
Henseleit is the player. Phillips is the caddie. The two began dating in 2021, when Phillips started working as Henseleit’s swing coach. They got together and stayed together, falling in love, chasing Henseleit’s professional golf career.
The Olympics were always in view. Henseleit set the goal eight years ago after watching the Rio Games on television. Now playing on the LPGA Tour, Henseleit is in the midst of the best season of her career, posting two top-10 major finishes and making 11 of 16 cuts — enough to make it to Paris, enough to start the storybook that played out Saturday.
See, what occurred Saturday was mostly implausible as recently as mid-day Friday. After opening the tournament with rounds of 73-72 (1-over), Henseleit dropped to 2-over following her front nine in the third round, dropping outside the top 30 in the 60-player field. But then something woke up. Henseleit caught a heater on the back, rolling in birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 16 and 18. From nowhere, she finished Friday in a tie for 13th.
Then came Saturday. The plan? Hold nothing back. Go at flags. Get a medal or go down swinging.
That’s precisely what Henseleit did. In what is likely the greatest round of her career, 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 atop the leaderboard made any noise, found herself in medal contention in the course’s closing stretch.
As tournament leader Lydia Ko faltered, trying to hold onto what had been a five-shot lead midway through the final round, Henseleit struck “probably the best golf shot I’ve ever hit” to 12 feet of the 17th hole.
A birdie. Two shots off the lead. In position to medal.
Then the 18th. A 300-yard drive straight down Champs-Élysées. Henseleit left herself only 150 yards into the par-5 finishing hole, dropping her approach to 45 feet and leaving with a two-putt birdie.
The same player who began 2024 ranked 111th in the world was the clubhouse leader of the Olympic Games at 8 under.
That’s when Henseleit and Phillips made their way to the clubhouse and collapsed onto a couch together. They looked at one another and started laughing. What happened?
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.
Phillips bought the ring last year in his native England. He waited until around Christmas, when the two traveled to Henseleit’s mother’s house out in the German countryside. He had a little spot in mind for the proposal.
“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.
In the clubhouse, Henseleit and Phillips answered a phone call from Henseleit’s putting coach, then put their phones away. They focused on being present, letting the moment wash over them.
As it turns out, Henseleit is close friends with Ko, and Phillips is close friends with Ko’s caddie, Paul Cormack. Even knowing a gold medal could potentially fall their way, the two pulled for Ko to finish off the victory and put her legendary career where it belongs — in the LPGA Hall of Fame. Henseleit and Phillips didn’t want to win if it meant Ko had to give it away.
“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.”
Afterward, Henseleit said the dream hadn’t quite sunk in yet. The medal. The moment. All of it. There were still pangs of disbelief during her press conference. Phillips, meanwhile, was off somewhere on the property, a German flag draping his shoulders, planning an evening celebration with Henseleit’s family.
As for the wedding, they hope it will be the end of next summer. They haven’t had much time to plan, what with Henseleit completely changing the trajectory of her career and not only making the Olympics but also locking up a spot on the European Solheim Cup 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)