Golf Esther Henseleit Bio & Awards Husband

Germany’s living legend Esther Henseleit made her professional debut by winning both the 2019 LET Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year, becoming only the third player in history to achieve this feat, following Laura Davies and Carlota Ciganda.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s individual golf event, she won the silver medal, securing Germany’s first-ever Olympic medal in golf, cementing her status as a living legend.

At the 2024 Solheim Cup, she became the first German golfer to be selected to represent the European team.

She also made headlines by marrying her husband Rhys Phillips, who served as her caddie when she won the Olympic silver medal.

However, on the LPGA stage, she has struggled with a stubborn winless jinx, unable to cross the threshold to victory, though she has shown particularly strong form at the ISPS Handa Scottish Open, finishing runner-up there twice.

Golf Esther Henseleit Bio & Awards husband

Germany Esther Henseleit Golfer

She was born on January 14, 1999, in Barrel, Lower Saxony, Germany, and began playing golf in 2008 at age 9 after visiting a golf course for the first time with her mother. She recorded her first win at the 2010 Lower Saxony Championship U12, and in 2011 showed her talent by winning both the Lower Saxony Championship U12 and the Austrian Juniors Open U12.

In 2012, she gained confidence as a future professional golfer by winning the German Championship Girls U14, and moved to Hamburger Golf-Club Falkenstein, where she also won the Hamburg Girls Championship that same year. In 2014, she was selected for the German Girls National Team following performances that included wins at the German Youth Championship and German Girls Championship U16.

In 2015, she defended her German champion title for a second consecutive year, winning the German Girls Championship U16 and the Hamburg Championship. In 2016, she expanded onto the European stage, finishing 3rd at the International Ladies Amateur Championship and 3rd at the European Ladies’ Team Championship, and in 2017 she was selected to represent the European team at the Junior Solheim Cup.

In 2018, she finished runner-up at the European Ladies Amateur Championship, one stroke behind Celia Barquin, and won the German National Amateur Championship, the German Team Amateur Championship (DGL), and the European Ladies’ Club Trophy. In December of that year, she finished 3rd at the final stage of La Aisha Tour School, earning her 2019 LET playing category (Category 5c), and turned professional in January 2019.

Early in her debut season, she finished 9th at the Ladies Classic Bonville and 8th at the ActewAGL Canberra Classic, both held in Australia, riding a wave of momentum. In March, she finished tied for 3rd at the Investec South African Women’s Open, and in April she finished 4th at the Lalla Meryem Cup.

In May, she finished runner-up at the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic and runner-up at La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational. In June, she made her first appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open as a qualifying alternate, finishing tied for 30th, and that same month she claimed her first professional win at the LET Access Series Skaftö Open, followed by another runner-up finish at the Ladies European Thailand Championship.

In September, she finished runner-up again, one stroke behind Carlota Ciganda, at the Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, and in December, at the season’s final event, the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, she fired a final-round course record of 64 (-8), overturning a 7-stroke deficit to win in dramatic fashion. This victory earned her both the 2019 LET Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year titles in the same season, and she also had an outstanding year by being named Hamburg Athlete of the Year and PGA of Germany Player of the Year.

In November 2019, she finished tied for 30th at LPGA Q-Series, earning her LPGA Tour card for the 2020 season. Having reigned as the top LET player immediately upon her debut, she was forced to pause activity for five months in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not returning to competition until August.

At the ANA Inspiration major, she finished tied for 51st. In November, she finished tied for 16th at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, followed by a tied 10th finish in the individual event at the Saudi Ladies Team International.

In 2021, she managed only 4 top-10 finishes. In February 2022, she successfully defended her title at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, earning her second career LET win, but aside from a 3rd-place finish at the Cambia Portland Classic in September, she had a disappointing year overall as her shots were generally inconsistent.

In July 2023, she fired a final-round 67 at the Amundi Evian Championship, achieving a career-best major finish of tied for 14th, the 4th best among European players. Building on this momentum, at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August, she finished tied for the lead alongside Alexa Pano and Gabriela Ruffels but finished runner-up after a tense playoff. In October, she finished tied for 3rd at the Buick LPGA Shanghai with a final score of 13-under, and was named PGA of Germany Player of the Year for the 2023 season.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s individual golf event, she began the final round in 13th place, fired 5 birdies in the front 10 holes alone to shoot 66, and won Germany’s first-ever Olympic medal in golf, a silver medal. In August, she finished runner-up at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open with a final score of 11-under.

In recognition of her Olympic silver medal, she received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany’s highest sporting honor from the German government, becoming Germany’s greatest golfer. In December, she married her swing coach and caddie Rhys Phillips in a wedding held in the Italian Alps.

She first met Rhys Phillips in 2020 at a golf tournament, initially working with him as her swing coach, and their relationship later developed into friendship and training partnership before he became her caddie for tournaments. He was with her especially during the glorious moment of her Paris Olympics silver medal, and their outdoor wedding was held against the backdrop of the Italian Dolomites.

In February 2025, she was once again named Player of the Year for the 2024 season, but victory on the LPGA continued to elude her — at the BlackDesert Championship, she finished runner-up, losing out to Yu Hae-ran’s wire-to-wire win. Throughout her career, she has shown particularly strong form at the ISPS Handa Scottish Open, and she is aiming for the top of the leaderboard there again in 2026.

Her driving distance is around 265 yards, and her fairway accuracy, greens in regulation, and average putts are all in the upper-middle tier on tour, making her a player with few weaknesses. However, she continues to struggle with a stubborn jinx of being unable to cross the threshold to victory on the LPGA stage.

Esther Henseleit Awards & Wins

2019: LET Access Series Skaftö Open win
2019: Magical Kenya Ladies Open win, winner’s prize $45,000
2019: LET Order of Merit, LET Rookie of the Year
2022: Magical Kenya Ladies Open win, winner’s prize €45,000
Best career finish: tied for 2nd (2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational, 2025 BlackDesert Championship)
LPGA career wins: 0

▶ Awards

2019: Ladies European Tour Order of Merit
2019: Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year
2019: PGA of Germany Player of the Year
2019: Hamburg Athlete of the Year
2023: PGA of Germany Player of the Year
33rd Paris Olympics Women’s Individual Stroke Play Golf: Silver Medal
2024: Hamburg Athlete of the Year (awarded February 2025)
2024: PGA of Germany Player of the Year (awarded February 2025)
2024: Germany’s Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf)

▶ Best Major Championship Finishes and Career Totals

Chevron Championship: Best finish 7th (2024), 6 career appearances, 3 cuts made, 1 top-10, 2 top-25
U.S. Women’s Open: Best finish tied for 22nd (2025), 5 career appearances, 4 cuts made, 1 top-25
Women’s PGA Championship: Best finish tied for 12th (2025), 7 career appearances, 5 cuts made, 4 top-25
Evian Championship: Best finish tied for 7th (2024), 7 career appearances, 5 cuts made, 1 top-10, 2 top-25
AIG Women’s British Open: Best finish tied for 23rd (2025), 7 career appearances, 3 cuts made, 1 top-25
Major championships career total: 32 events played, 20 cuts made, 0 wins, 2 top-10s, 10 top-25s

▶ Amateur-Era Wins

2010: Lower Saxony Championship U12
2011: Lower Saxony Championship U12, Austrian Juniors Open U12
2012: German Championship Girls U14
2013: Hamburg Girls Championship
2014: German Youth Championship, German Girls Championship U16, European Young Masters (national ranking)
2015: German Girls Championship U16, Hamburg Championship
2018: German National Amateur Championship, German Team Amateur Championship (DGL), European Ladies’ Club Trophy

Golf Esther Henseleit Club WITB

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS Driver (10.5°, Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX shaft)
Woods: TaylorMade Qi35 Fairway (16.5°, Mitsubishi Diamana BB 63 S shaft), TaylorMade Qi4D Fairway (18°, Mitsubishi Diamana BB 73 S shaft)
Hybrid: TaylorMade Qi4D Rescue (22°, Graphite Design Tour AD HY-75 S shaft)
Irons: TaylorMade P-7CB Irons (6-PW, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shaft)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG5 Wedges (50°, 54°, 58°, KBS 610 Wedge 110 shaft)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X Tour Prototype Putter
Golf ball: – / Golf apparel: – / Golf shoes: – / Golf glove: –

LPGA Esther Henseleit Schedule

2026 ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open winner’s prize $300,000 – total purse $2,000,000

LPGA Tour Schedule & World Ranking

She is writing the history of German women’s golf as a living legend. She also showed off golf’s romantic side by marrying her swing coach and caddie, husband Rhys Phillips.