After producing the round of her career to win a silver medal at the Olympics Esther Henseleit‘s attention is now firmly on the Solheim Cup as she looks to cement her place in Suzann Pettersen’s European team.
The German closed with a 66 (-6) at Le Golf National on Saturday to write her name in the history books as the first woman from Europe to medal in golf at the modern Olympic Games.
“It’s amazing to have a medal in my hands and it’s great to be the first German and first European to do so in the Olympics,” Henseleit said at Dundonald Links ahead of this week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open. “It was an amazing week. It still has not really sunk in.
“I think I need a few weeks and maybe some time at home to really reflect and look back but I’m very happy with it and I was really able to enjoy [the Olympics] as well, on the golf course and in the village. It’s been a great week.”
Thanks to the incredible performance, Henseleit – a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) – has moved to a career best World No 42 in the Rolex Rankings. This puts the German just one position outside both the LET Solheim Cup points list and the Rolex Women’s World Ranking Solheim Cup points list.
“It definitely is [now on my mind],” she said. “I mean, I’m just outside the automatic qualifying spots on both the World Ranking and the LET points now. It’s definitely my goal for the next two weeks to automatically get into that team. I can’t rely on a pick.
“I feel [the silver medal] definitely helped. I feel like I’ve played really well this year. Sadly I haven’t won anything yet and I’ve been in contention a lot, and especially in the important tournaments. So I feel like I can play really well on the big stage.
“Even last week I felt that every day I was getting a bit more comfortable in front of the crowd and with the golf course. So I feel like I’ve really grown over this year, and really handled myself well under pressure. Of course, I hope I’m going to be on that team in a few weeks.”
Should Henseleit make the team she would make her debut in the competition as Europe look to retain the famous trophy for a fourth edition in a row this September at Robert Trent Jones.
Qualification for the 2024 Solheim Cup ends following the conclusion of next week’s AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews. The full Team Europe standings can be found here.
Follow all the action throughout the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #WSO24.
