GALLOWAY, N.J. — Laetitia Beck rolled in a 6-foot birdie on the final hole Friday for an 8-under 63, the lowest score of her LPGA Tour career, giving her a one-shot lead over new mom Nicole Broch Estrup of Denmark after one round of the ShopRite LPGA.
Beck, the first Israeli player in LPGA history who last year picked up her first win on the developmental Epson Tour, took only 25 putts on a strong day on the greens.
The surprise was Broch Estrup, playing for the first time in 15 months while on maternity leave. Her son, Max, is approaching his first birthday and is with his mom this week.
“We’re hopeful we can make it work as a family out here,” she said.
The 33-year-old Dane last played on Feb. 15, 2025, in the Saudi International on the Ladies European Tour. The LPGA policy for maternity leave allows for players to return to the same status for up to two years after giving birth.
Beck has been around for 12 years, and while she has not won on the LPGA or the Ladies European Tour, she isn’t about to let a career-low score get her thinking too far ahead.
But this was good golf, missing only three fairways and seeing the line on her putts just as clearly as she did during the pro-am round on the Bay course at Seaview Hotel.
“I was just able to make a lot of putts, didn’t miss too many greens, few up-and-downs, and it felt easy,” Beck said.
Celine Boutier of France and Soo Bin Joo of South Korea were at 66, while Hye Jin Choi led a large group of players a 67.