LPGA Rookie Profiles: Sophia Popov and Laetitia Beck (Videos)

By Elizabeth Bethel | Jan 16, 2015

Jun 15, 2014; Pinehurst, NC, USA; Martin Kaymer (left) celebrates with LPGA player Sandra Gal after putting out on the 18th green during the final round of the 2014 U.S. Open golf tournament at Pinehurst Resort Country Club – #2 Course. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports

While the LPGA Tour has for a decade or more set the standard in professional golf for globalization in both playing venues and Tour members, there have been relatively few German golfers who qualified for the Tour and there have been no Israelis, until this year. Sophia Popov joins Sandra Gal and Caroline Masson and Germany is one player shy of being able to field a team for the 2016 International Crown. Laetitia Beck, however, is breaking trail. She’s the first-ever Israeli, male or female, to enter the ranks of professional golfers. Both LPGA Rookies are products of collegiate golf programs in the US and both earned their 2015 Tour cards at Q-School last month.

Let’s take a closer look.

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Sophia Popov

Sophia Popov, who was playing on the European team at the 2009 Junior Solheim Cup when she was recruited to the USC Trojans golf team, will bear watching. She’d captured her first collegiate win by November of her freshman year and put two more victories on her collegiate resume before her freshman year ended as well as a victory the International European Ladies Amateur Championship.

my dream has always been to play out here on the LPGA Tour – Sophia Papov

Popov’s transition from a standout collegiate golfer to a pro was easy and predictable. In May 2015 Popov led the Trojans to a 2nd place finish at the

NCAA Championship

and two months later she finished in 16th place at the

LET Ladies German Open

and collected her first check.

Popov collected another check at the LET’s Helsinborg Open, which she sandwiched between Stage I and Stage II LPGA Q-School, and then collected a 3rd check at the LET’s South African Women’s Open before she finished in 11th place in the final stage of LPGA Q-School and went on to qualify 3 weeks later at the LET Q-School.

Coming into the 2015 season, Sophia Popov’s pro options are wide open.

Laetitia Beck

Israel has never produced a pro golfer, male or female, until Laetitia Beck, who learned the game as a youngster at the Caesarea Golf Course, the only international golf course in the country.

Beck’s parents, Belgium Jews who immigrated to Israel when Beck was six and by nine she was a competitive golfer. Her parents sent Beck to the US for high school at the IMG Pendleton School in Florida, where she grew and refined her golf game. Designated a sports prodigy by Israel, Beck has successfully competed in an impressive range of amateur venues and completed her university education at Duke, playing for the Blue Devils, on a golf scholarship.

Beck made her pro debut at the 2014 Women’s British Open.

It’s the first time for me and my country.-Laetitia Beck

Following Q School in December Beck took a break at home in Israel and we’ll get a look at what she can do early this season.

Both Popov and Beck are coming to golf’s Big Stage without the benefit of pro competition on the Symetra Tour. Unlike Sadena Parks and Cindy Feng, these two LPGA rookies are going to have to draw on their successful collegiate careers to get them to the weekend.

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