Paulina Gretzsky Creating a Stir on Golf Digest Cover

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The LPGA is in the middle of its first major of the year with the Kraft Nabisco Championship in full swing in Palm Springs. Big names such as Michelle Wie, Se Ri Pak and Lexi Thompson are splashed across the leader board. Yet the biggest name in ladies golf the past few days isn't even on tour.

Paulina Gretzky, daughter of the famed hockey player Wayne Gretzky and fiancé of PGA tour player Dustin Johnson, has found herself earning the bulk of the headlines this week. Gretzsky is gracing the cover of Golf Digest's current issue, which has an article devoted to golf fitness featuring the part-time model. 

It isn't the first time that Golf Digest has chosen to scantily clad a gorgeous female and given them the cover that is normally filled with PGA tour players. But it is the first time that some of the top ranked LPGA players have decided to speak up about it.

Stacy Lewis, currently ranked third in the world and the top American player on tour, had this to say about it in an interview this week with The New York Times.

"It’s frustrating for female golfers. It’s kind of the state of where we’ve always been. We don’t get respect for being the golfers that we are. Obviously, Golf Digest is trying to sell magazines. But at the same time you’d like to see a little respect for the women’s game."

Hall of Fame player Juli Inkster, also had some thoughts on the cover photo, which she shared with The New York Times. 

"It’s frustrating because it’s Golf Digest; it’s not Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. I think they should maybe recognize some of the great women golfers that we have. It’s like, What do you have to do to get a little respect? I’m guaranteeing you right now, it was not a woman editor who chose that cover.  . .  O.K., so I think next month the cover should be Paula Creamer’s fiancé, who’s a fighter pilot, or Brittany Lincicome’s hot boyfriend, who’s a long-drive hitter. Put one of them on there."

You have to dig way back in the archives to find an LPGA player on the cover of Golf Digest, which tends to focus on PGA players, golf equipment and golf instruction. Occasionally a feature article on an LPGA player will pop up inside the magazine, but you have to go back to 2008 to find an actual player on the cover when it featured Lorena Ochoa. The last two years however saw model Kate Upton making the cover when she posed with Arnold Palmer and Golf Channel's Holly Sonders also earned top billing when she was featured in a fitness article.

One has to wonder what a player has to do to make it on the cover. Inbee Park won three major championships in a row last year and is headed for the Hall of Fame. Park would have been a perfect candidate if the magazine is looking to feature one of the best players in this generation. While Park may not be a household name, maybe more people would know about the current number one player if the magazine gave her some attention.

Obviously Golf Digest is in the business of selling magazine and no doubt Gretzsky featured on the cover will provide a big boost to these efforts. It is just too bad that they tend to ignore some of the biggest names on the ladies tour that have accomplished so much and yet can't even dominate the headlines during one of their biggest tournaments of the year.

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