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:
"Hey guys! Great news, we're gonna have a lady golfer on the cover this month!" "Perfect! How are her boobs?" - Staff mtgs at Golf Digest
— Hilary Tone (@HToneTastic) April 2, 2015
This is how @GolfDigest presents men on the cover pic.twitter.com/rAcPuXejbG
— Sarah (@DasGherkin) April 2, 2015
This is how @GolfDigest presents women on the cover pic.twitter.com/OqhsOYbZxW
— Sarah (@DasGherkin) April 2, 2015
It would be helpful if these women would insist on better for themselves. #GolfDigest #lexithompson
— Amy Brown (@ATBrown77) April 2, 2015
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:
I landed on the May cover of @GolfDigest ! So pumped to represent fitness & power #GirlPower : http://t.co/ucXw4JTnSm pic.twitter.com/u4ys8WLLyv
— Lexi Thompson (@Lexi) April 2, 2015
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?