Why can't Lydia Ko grace cover of Golf Digest?

Lydia Ko watches a tee shot. Photo / Getty

Lydia Ko rules women's golf, but she can't make the cover of one of the game's most important publications.

American Hall of Famer Julie Inkster has taken a pop at Golf Digest, which appears to be guided by the adage that sex sells when choosing its female cover subjects.

The latest magazine will feature the famously alluring Paige Spiranac, a former college player, on the cover headlining a package on the "Futurists".

A golfchannel blogger noted that when the glamorous Michelle Wie made the cover in October 2014, she was the first LPGA player to do so in over six years.

Callaway athlete @PaigeSpiranac lands on May cover of @GolfDigest: https://t.co/EqK5AoLvL4 pic.twitter.com/ASHHk5mNB4

— Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) April 19, 2016

"Lexi Thompson appeared in May of last year with a towel provocatively draped around her neck," Randall Mell wrote.

Inkster noted that Ko, the Kiwi teenage prodigy and world number one, had never made the cover.

Spiranac can't make it as a pro golfer but has still been called "The Hottest Female Athlete On Earth" and is a social media star who posts provocative photos.

The 55-year-old Inkster, whose outstanding career includes seven major titles, wrote: "I know that stuff sells, and they are in the business of selling magazines, but I think people could learn more in an article about Lydia. It's kind of where our society is right now. I don't agree with it, but it's their magazine and they can do what they want."