Larry Williams: Lydia Ko is a freak

Lydia Ko hits from the bunker on the 12th hole during the second round of the LPGA Tour ANA Inspiration golf tournament at Mission Hills Country Club. AP photo / Chris Carlson

Listen to Larry Williams on Newstalk ZB, 4pm to 7pm. Today he looks at Lydia Ko and also poor people on Queen St.

Lydia Ko is a freak. Her win today at the ANA Inspiration in Palm Springs was her second major in a row. The youngest major winner in history and she goes back to back in the last two majors. Phenomenal.

At just 18, Ko has already clocked up 12 wins on the LPGA tour and five wins on the European tour. Ko has the potential to become one of the greats of women's golf. Hall of Fame material for sure.

And here's the thing: Ko is the best women's player on the planet right now in a game that is littered with truly great players. The LPGA is just as tough as the men's PGA to win. It's no walk in the park.

Beating legends of the game like Inbee Park, Shanshan Feng, Stacy Lewis, let alone an abundance of terrific emerging talent, consistently, is hugely impressive.

There's another thing about Lydia Ko - she's a fine young woman and very loyal to New Zealand. She clearly feels she has an obligation to her adopted country. Ko is an outstanding ambassador for this country.

I have no doubt that Ko would get a lot more money in sponsorship playing out of South Korea, and I wouldn't blame her for doing that, after all she's a professional, but she has chosen to represent this country.

Well done Lydia Ko and thank you. You're brilliant.

Sick of beggars

Like Sir Bob Jones I'm sick of the beggars lying around Auckland's CBD.

Jones said in an NBR column that "the degrading spectacle of as many as 10, obese, circa 30-year old shameless Maori slobs lying against shop windows with a paper cup on lower Queen Street is a disgrace. The first mayoral candidate to promise a ban on begging will sail into office."

Sir Bob is inviting mayoral candidates in Auckland and Wellington to do a "Trump" and call it the way it is. He doesn't like Trump but points to his tactic of being outspoken - which voters like.

Auckland's begging problem is a scandal. It's a scandal that they can get away with it. It's a scandal that the council and police ignore it.

These are mostly commercial beggars and are probably doing very nicely thank you - thanks to the suckers who give them money.

Beggars and the homeless sleeping all over the CBD are a blight on the city landscape. God knows why businesses tolerate it.

The tourists coming off the cruise ships must be gobsmacked and appalled. Certainly nowhere near the world's most liveable city that Mayor Len Brown keeps trumpeting.

The truth is people are sick of it. I'm sick of it. The mayoral candidate who is going to clean the mess up gets my vote. Sir Bob Jones is absolutely spot on.

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