text: At 12, she became the youngest player to appear in the U.S Women's Open. Now 20, Lexi Thompson can boast six professional championships and most recently, a provocative magazine cover. The LPGA player, who has career earnings of almost $3million, will appear topless on the front of the May edition of Golf Digest - using only a towel to cover her torso. Professional golfer Lexi Thompson, 20, will appear on the front of May's edition of Golf Digest . She appeared in the Women's U.S. Open when she was just 12. At the time she was the youngest player ever to have appeared in the major tournament . She celebrated the shoot by tweeting: 'I landed on the May cover of @GolfDigest ! So pumped to represent fitness & power.' The decision has sparked a mixed response from readers. PGA teaching pro Chance Scheffing told CBS New York: 'I wasn’t sure if it was a Playboy ad, or if it was a Golf Digest ad.' Golfer Morella Carta added: 'I just think that this is a detriment to women, because I’d like to be recognized by being a good golfer; not about how my body looks like in the front page of a magazine. 'I think that if we allow this to happen, we will never get to the place where we should be.' It is the first time a pro-golfer has appeared on a 'Fitness and Power' issue cover - with past choices embroiling the publication in controversy. Thompson (pictured in 2014) turned professional in June 2010 at age 15 and in September 2011, she set a new record as the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA tournament - 16 years, seven months, and eight days . Fox Sports golf reporter Holly Sonders, who was with the Golf Channel at the time, appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in 2013. The next year, the magazine featured Paulina Gretzky, who was only connected to the sport as PGA tour professional Dustin Johnson's fiancee. LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan said he was 'disappointed' in Golf Digest's position to put Gretzky on the cover. Lorena Ochoa was the last female golfer to appear on the cover back in 2008. Editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde said in a publisher's note: 'We've come a long way from a year ago when the LPGA condemned our choice of Paulina Gretzky (and Holly Sonders in 2013) as the cover images for Golf Digest's annual fitness issue. Mea culpa, ladies. 'You can have stunning beauty and the highest level of golf performance at the same time, as demonstrated this year by Lexi, Stacy Lewis, Cheyenne Woods and Michelle Wie.' Thompson celebrated the shoot by tweeting: 'I landed on the May cover of @GolfDigest ! So pumped to represent fitness & power' He added: 'LPGA players not only outdrive the average guy by 20-plus yards, but they do it with the same clubhead speed we have. We can learn more from them not because they swing like us, but because we should swing like them. 'They don't just muscle the ball and make up for swing flaws with strength.' The publication also confirmed that the shoot took place in a closed set and Thompson's mother was in attendance so she could discard any shots. Thompson made the news last year after jumping into Poppie's Pond, a tradition for tournament winners at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. She has just completed a faultless win in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She turned professional in June 2010 at age 15 and in September 2011, she set a new record as the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA tournament - 16 years, seven months, and eight days - when she won the Navistar LPGA Classic. Thompson was the youngest player to play in the Women's U.S. Open in 2007 when she was just 12. However her record was beaten last year when 11-year-old Lucy Li qualified. In 2014 the magazine featured Paulina Gretzky, who was only connected to the sport as PGA tour professional Dustin Johnson's fiancee .
target: LPGA player posed shirtless for May's 'Fitness and Power' issue .
  Editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde defended decision after recent controversies .
  Two previous front covers have featured two non-golfing women .
  One reader said: 'I wasn’t sure if it was a Playboy ad, or if it was a Golf Digest ad'