For a player who spends her life in the spotlight, Brooke Henderson has always kept her romantic life remarkably private. Yet over the past five years, one constant has quietly walked beside her: Ricky Castro, a former minor-league baseball pitcher from Florida whose steady presence has become an understated but vital part of the Henderson team.
The two met in 2019 through mutual friends in the Orlando area, where Brooke spends much of her off-season. Ricky, then still pitching in the Tampa Bay’s farm system, had no idea who she was at first. “He literally asked me what sport I played,” Brooke laughed in a rare 2022 interview. That low-key introduction set the tone for a relationship that has stayed deliberately out of the headlines.
Ricky’s baseball career ended in 2021 after recurring elbow issues, but by then he had already started traveling with Brooke to tournaments. He is a familiar face in the player areas at LPGA events, often spotted walking the back nine with Brooke’s parents or chatting with Brittany, her sister and caddie. Unlike many athlete partners who court attention, Ricky avoids cameras and social media almost entirely; his Instagram is private and has fewer than 400 followers.
Those close to the couple describe their dynamic as “effortlessly calm.” Brooke has said that one of the things she values most is Ricky’s ability to treat big weeks and quiet weeks exactly the same. After her emotional victory at the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary, she thanked him in the winner’s press conference with a simple, “He keeps everything normal when the world feels anything but normal.”
They split time between Smiths Falls, Ontario in the summer and a home in the Orlando area the rest of the year. Off-season photos (almost always posted by friends rather than the couple themselves) show them doing ordinary things: cooking together, taking Brooke’s dog for walks, or playing pickup hockey on outdoor rinks when they’re back in Canada. Ricky has picked up golf and now carries a respectable 8-handicap, though he insists he’ll never keep score when playing with Brooke.
Marriage questions inevitably come up, especially now that Brooke is 28. Her answer has stayed consistent: “We’re really happy exactly as we are. When the time feels right for both of us, we’ll know.” For now, there is no ring, no engagement rumors, and no rush. Instead, there is a shared life built on long flights, early-morning range sessions, and the kind of partnership that doesn’t need a public moment to prove it’s real.
In a sport that can feel lonely at the top, Brooke Henderson has found someone content to walk a few steps behind her, out of the spotlight, every step of the way.
