By: Max Bechtoldt
Esther Henseleit finally has a signature moment in professional golf, after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. The 25-year-old German shot an incredible -6 66 in the final round of the Olympic games to capture the biggest trophy of her golf life.
Now, it isn’t like Henseleit hasn’t won before, she does have two Ladies European Tour wins, one in 2019 and the other in 2022, but it feels like her game is reaching a new gear in 2024.
Henseleit, now playing full time on the LPGA Tour, has had a bit of an erratic season, but with some highlights. She played well in both the Chevron Championship and JM Eagle LA Championship in back-to-back weeks, posting two top-10s. She also had top-15 finishes in two other majors this year, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Evian where she finished seventh.
Europe automatically takes the top two in Solheim Cup points, which at the moment would be Charley Hull and Linn Grant. Then it takes the next six in world rankings. All eight currently qualifying players would be returnees from 2023. Europe also gets four captain’s selections.
At the moment, Henseleit is the highest ranking European player not in the qualifying position, that is even before her silver medal gets taken into account. She has now shown on one of golf’s biggest stages, how fantastic of a competitor she can be with the pressure on.
European captain Suzann Pettersen proved in 2023 she is not afraid to skip over highly ranked players to put together the squad she has in her head. Most notably, in selecting Caroline Hedwall of Sweden. While Hedwall was highly contested at the time, she did perform solidly, posting a 1-1 record with a win in her individual match.
Hedwall doesn’t seem likely to make it this year, her game just hasn’t been strong enough to justify. That in theory should open up at least one slot on the team. Europe needs to get younger, and the 25-year-old from Germany would help do the trick.
