Topless golfer causes outrage

Golf and topless photoshoots go together like mango chutney and toothpaste.

Yet Golf Digest magazine - one of the oldest, most widely-read and well-respected sporting publications in the world - has decided to sprinkle a touch of casual nudity into its pages for the sake of its circulation figures.

That's right: unbelievable as it may seem. the magazine managed to get LPGA Tour golfer Lexi Thompson to pose topless for its latest issue.

Now, Thompson isn't some up-and-coming hopeful looking for - ahem - some exposure. Nor is she some Anna Kournikova-style star who is not quite good enough to get by on skill, so cashes in on her looks.

Nope. Lexi is officially the ninth-best female golfer on the planet, the youngest ever tournament winner in LPGA history, and winner of the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship - which is the first Major of the year on the women's circuit.

In other words, she has nothing to prove - yet the 20-year-old decided to strip off for the cameras.

It's a stunt that the magazine has tried in the past, though not so brazenly: Paulina Gretzky, daughter of NHL legend Wayne and partner of PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson, was on the magazine in a provocative pose last year.

But the Thompson cover pushes things far further - and a backlash began immediately:

Is it an overreaction? Is Thompson well within her rights to do whatever she likes? After all, the golfer herself seemed delighted to be on the cover of the mag:

Or is it a disgrace that an elite athlete feels the need to trade on her looks when her skill and athleticism ought to be more than enough to make her famous?