Brooke Henderson spent last Sunday getting the better kind of news.
One week after losing the Evian Championship in a playoff to Ryu Hae-ran — the second major title that slipped through her fingers at that tournament — the 28-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ontario, announced her engagement to Minnesota Twins prospect Ricky Castro. The timing is either a masterclass in emotional recovery or proof that Henderson processes heartbreak the way she processes a downhill four-footer: quickly, and with her eyes forward.
Henderson turned pro in 2014 and has piled up 14 LPGA Tour victories since, including two major championships. Her most recent win came at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open, and she’ll head to Edmonton next month looking to defend that title — now with a ring on her finger and, presumably, a slightly different set of practice-round conversations.
Castro, 26, is a right-handed pitcher who signed with the Twins organization in 2024 following a collegiate career split between Purdue and Tulane. He’s currently assigned to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, where he owns a 2-1 record with a 4.13 ERA. A call-up to Minneapolis would put him roughly a 90-minute drive from Target Field — close enough that the couple could theoretically coordinate a weekend where one of them contends at a major and the other throws middle relief in the same time zone, which is the kind of logistical flex that only dual-sport power couples get to attempt.
The engagement announcement landed without much fanfare — no coordinated magazine spread, no brand-partnered reveal. Just the news, delivered on a Sunday, which is the day golfers and minor-league pitchers both know as either the best or worst day of the week depending on the leaderboard and the box score.
Henderson’s near-miss at the Evian was her closest brush with a third career major. She’d previously won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship — meaning the course where she just lost a playoff is the same one where she’s already hoisted a trophy. The symmetry is either cruel or comforting, and Henderson doesn’t seem like someone who spends much time on the distinction.
Castro’s professional résumé is still taking shape. The Twins signed him as an undrafted free agent out of the college ranks, and his Triple-A stint represents the highest level he’s reached in the system. A 4.13 ERA in the International League is the kind of number that keeps a pitcher on the organizational depth chart without necessarily rushing him onto the 40-man roster — serviceable, developing, and very much still in the “prospect” designation that TSN’s headline used.
For now, the couple’s shared professional calendar reads like a geography problem: LPGA events spread across continents, Saints home games at CHS Field in St. Paul, and a wedding to plan somewhere in the margins. Henderson’s next competitive start and Castro’s next relief appearance are both TBD. The engagement, at least, is settled.