While Lexi Thompson will be playing in this week's Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in S.F., she will have a presence at the PGA Tour Zurich Classic in New Orleans, as a "larger-than-life picture" of her will be featured "on scaffolding between the ninth and 18th greens," according to Trey Iles of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Thompson in January signed a sponsorship deal with Zurich, and on Tuesday she took part in the Zurich Classic Junior Clinic "in her first duty as part of the company's golfing advertising team." Thompson is a "rising marketing star who has some pretty good golfing skills and advertising deals with Zurich, EA Sports, Puma and Red Bull." Her golfing prowess is "only part of her story." She is an "attractive American player, 5-foot-11 with blonde hair and blue eyes, who posed semi-nude on the May issue of Golf Digest." There is "no question" that Thompson's "sex appeal is something her advisers feel can bring her to the next level of marketing, more so than her golf skills, which are considerable." Though "not yet on the level" of tennis players Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova, Thompson "is gaining ground." She "has the looks that push products," and the LPGA "would do well to get in the act and promote her along with other American stars" (NOLA.com, 4/21).
