Laetitia Beck cards a career-best 63, leads by 1 at ShopRite LPGA

GALLOWAY, N.J. (AP) — Laetitia Beck rolled in a six-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.

In her return, Broch Estrup made all seven birdies in an eight hole stretch from the fourth hole through the 11th hole — three straight birdies, a par, then four straight birdies.

“I got really nervous, especially on the second streak,” Broch Estrup said. “It hit me on 9 when I had a 20-footer for eagle. Left myself a 3-footer for birdie and then I started shaking, to be honest. But having Max here and having Max in general just gives another perspective.”

“My biggest goal is to not get in my own way,” she said. “I feel like I was definitely not striking it well today, but I just kept a smile on my face and took the good bounces. Yeah, so it was nice day in many ways.”

Briana Chacon holed out from the 16th fairway for eagle — her seventh hole of the round — and was at 65 along with Arpichaya Yubol and Polly Mack.

Charley Hull, at No. 7 the only player from the top 10 in the world who is playing this week, and defending champion Jennifer Kupcho each opened with 74.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied with 19 other players for 31st at 1 under, seven shots back of the leader. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is tied with 15 others for 51st at even par.

The ShopRite LPGA is one of the two scheduled 54-hole events on the LPGA Tour. This did not attract a strong field because of the scheduling, with the U.S. Women’s Open next week across the country in Los Angeles, held at Riviera for the first time.

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.

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The Associated Press