With her recent strong showing at the US Women's Open earlier this month, 15-year-old Alexis Thompson grabbed the attention of golf fans everywhere... and they don't appear to be letting go. According to Thompson, however, this doesn't make much sense to her.

As an article on The Golf Channel website suggests, Thompson and her family are a little embarrassed that so much attention is being paid to the young golfing phenom in the midst of the Women's British Open this week, especially considering Alexis isn't even in the field.

The Thompson family is uncomfortable that she’s the focus of so much
attention with a major championship about to begin when she’s not even
playing.

For the most part, Thompson has a point: why worry about a player not in a tournament, especially one who has yet to win anything at the professional level? On the other hand, however, Thompson is also failing to see that this could be the very reason why golf fans want to see more of her game. This is not to say that Thompson didn't make a valiant effort and appeal to get into the British Open, however, as the article explains:

Thompson’s T-10 at the U.S. Women’s Open and T-2 at the Evian Masters have made her a hot topic on tour. Bobby Kreusler, Thompson’s agent, said when he first
explained why she wouldn’t be playing the Women’s British Open this week –
Thompson’s request for a special exemption to final-stage qualifying was denied
after a conflict with the U.S. Women's Open prevented her from going to prequalifying – he never intended for the fallout to take on a life of its own.

Personally, this falls in line with the strong demand on the LPGA Tour for someone to step up and reclaim the "superstar throne" that was previously held by Lorena Ochoa up until her recent retirement from the game. Before Ochoa there was Annika, who also retired earlier than expected (at least if you ask some golf fans). This is not to suggest that the talent level on the LPGA has faltered in any way; Paula Creamer, Christie Kerr, and a small army of international players are all prepared to be the new face of that Tour. How Thompson's agent can overlook this fact is beyond me. Have we not learned that golf fans eat-up stories about youth, unnatural talent, and "the next big thing"?

Come on; this isn't our first rodeo.