Can you have a breakthrough year while still waiting on your first win? Esther Henseleit is proving you can

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Chances are, Esther Henseleit isn’t going to win the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews. So her name won’t be featuring in any headlines come Sunday evening. Indeed, it is unlikely that the 25-year-old German will even be mentioned in the lead to any journalist’s story.

Hang on though. As she has done on a regular basis this year, Henseleit has at least done enough to get herself noticed by those paying closest attention. Silver medalist at the recent Olympics Games, second at last week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open and with three top-15 finishes in major championships already to her name in 2024, Henseleit’s six-under-par third-round 66 over the storied Old Course moved her almost 50 places up the leaderboard. At the moment she completed her seventh birdie of the day on the 18th green, the soon-to-be European Solheim Cup debutant was two under par for the tournament and just outside the top ten after being tied for 99th following the first round.

“I gave myself a lot of chances with my wedges,” Henseleit said. “I had a lot of short birdie putts and holed two or three longer ones too. That is always great to see. Overall, I was just very steady. I normally hit the ball great and I can shoot low the the putter is also working.”

All of which is but a microcosm of Henseleit’s remarkable rise to prominence in what is her fourth season on the LPGA Tour. A steady but largely unremarkable performer for her first three years, she has become a more than occasional presence on leaderboards, which is something of a step up for a player whose only professional victories—a brace of Magical Kenya Opens—have come on the Ladies European Tour.

So what’s going on? What has made the difference?

As is often the case when a player steps up a level or two in the space of only a few months, any transformation is rooted in improvement on and around the greens. So it is with Henseleit, who started working with putting coach David Orr around 18 months ago. The Scot, based at the Whitecraigs Club in Glasgow, has added finishing power to his charge’s already sound long game.

“I’ve been hitting it great all year and the putter feels like it is heating up,” Henseleit says. “That takes pressure off my short game and my iron play. I’ve been making many birdies. Putting was always one of my weaknesses. I tried out a few different coaches. But David is great. He knows how to motivate me. He gives me input which adds to my confidence. Nowadays, we most often check the basics of my technique. Mostly we talk about my mind-set.

“Everything I’ve been working on the last two or three years is coming together,” she continues. “David gave me a few new thoughts about putting and I’ve improved a lot. I’ve always been able to strike putts solidly. I get a good roll on the ball. But I’ve worked a lot on my speed. If the speed of a putt is good, the hole gets so much bigger.”

In conjunction with that level of confidence, Henseleit professes to be unconcerned by her lack of wins on the LPGA Tour. Her improved play has not made her impatient. Not yet anyway.

“There has ways been someone playing better than me,” she shrugs. “I’ve played well in final rounds, but someone has always been a little bit better. I’m trying to be patient. I’m sure my time will come.”

Throw in Henseleit’s well-honed course management—“I’ve always been pretty smart on the golf course, I know how to miss in the right spots”—and European Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen surely has a more than useful addition to the squad that will defend the trophy at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia next month. Well versed in team play through amateur days spent competing for her country and continent in events like the European Team Championship and the Junior Solheim Cup, Henseleit is understandably keen to be part of the Old World squad.

“I’m looking forward to being back in that environment,” she says. “I have always performed well as part of a team.”

And yes, she’ll get noticed if that trend continues.