MIAMI • LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said on Wednesday he will step down from the job later this year after an 11-year reign helming women's golf. The American said in an open letter he would quit the position sometime this year, but did not give a firm timetable for his departure. "I know that news may come as a bit of a shock, but trust me when I say it follows many, many months of deep introspection," Whan, who turns 56 next month, wrote in the letter. He is the longest-serving commissioner in the history of the LPGA, and only the eighth person to hold the job. He is widely credited with strengthening the LPGA Tour since taking over, increasing the number of tournaments on the circuit (it had 24 events when he took over in 2009) and boosting overall prize money by more than US$25 million (S$33 million). Despite a tumultuous 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic decimated the schedule, the Tour recently confirmed a 34-event season for 2021 with a record US$76.4 million in prize money. "I simply wouldn't leave the LPGA if I thought the future was uncertain or not trending straight up," Whan wrote. "Even after the challenges we faced in 2020, the LPGA has never been more financially secure, deeper in leadership talent, or more anchored by passionate, diverse sponsors from all around the world. "The LPGA is poised for even greater heights, and as such, I'm excited to hand the baton to the next leader and become their biggest supporter." His decision was lamented many players. Hall of Famer Juli Inkster said: "Mike ran the Tour like a business, but he also ran it with compassion. I think the LPGA was very close to folding, and he brought it back to life and now it's thriving." Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, the LPGA Tour's player president, said Whan had been the "right leader at the right time". "He rebuilt the Tour and then reimagined its future by bringing new events, new sponsors and a new value proposition around diversity and inclusion to the LPGA," she added. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON • The WTA Tour will follow its usual schedule for most of 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic, after organisers on Tuesday announced an updated calendar which takes the season through to Wimbledon in July. The Indian Wells event, jointly held with the ATP Tour, was postponed from its usual March date, while the Australian Open Grand Slam has been delayed until Feb 8. But top-level tournaments, including the Miami Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open, will all go ahead as usual. "The current schedule reflects a traditional WTA Tour calendar for the majority of the season past mid-March," the WTA said in a statement. The women's tour also added that "alternatives are being assessed" for a new date to hold Indian Wells. Further updates for the 2021 season past Wimbledon will be confirmed in "due course". Following the Abu Dhabi season-opener, which started yesterday and runs till next Wednesday, there will be two events in Melbourne in the run-up to the Australian Open. The men's circuit starts today with the Delray Beach Open in Florida, where Chilean world No. 22 Cristian Garin is the top seed. The event is running concurrently with another hard-court tournament in Antalya, Turkey. The ATP last month announced its revised calendar for the year, with tournaments in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, Doha, Santiago, Marseille, Acapulco and Dubai set to take place in March. Beyond the March 24-April 4 Miami Open, the men's schedule remains tentative although former ATP chief executive officer and chairman Chris Kermode has told the Tennis Podcast that the Monte Carlo Masters, which was axed last year due to the pandemic, will "definitely be held in 2021". Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam scrapped last year, has also said it is considering holding the grass-court event behind closed doors, but another cancellation is not on the agenda. The organisers plan to issue a further update at the end of this month. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
DUBAI • Patrick Reed is very much in contention to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai title. He carded a superb eight-under 64 in the second round to take a two-shot lead over Matthew Fitzpatrick at the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship yesterday. After an opening round of 70 on Thursday that left him three shots behind overnight leader Victor Perez of France, 2018 Masters winner Reed turned up the heat with five birdies on the front nine before adding further gains on four holes after the turn. The only blemish on his card was a bogey on the par-four 12th hole at the Jumeirah Golf Estates' Earth Course but the world No. 11 said he was pleased with his effort, having gone 10-under 134 for the tournament heading into the weekend. "Any time you shoot eight under, you're always happy. I feel like today, I got off to a little better start than yesterday and the putter was working a little bit," he said. "Yesterday, I felt like I did a lot of things pretty well, just putts weren't really falling, was kind of burning a couple edges, a couple iron shots weren't as close as they needed to be, and today I tightened it up. "I was able to hit the ball a little closer, give myself more opportunities and seeing the lines a little better today." At US$3 million (S$4 million), the DP World Tour Championship offers the single biggest prize of any individual tournament in golf, and whoever is top of the standings after tomorrow will also take home US$2 million as the Race to Dubai winner. While Reed is the favourite, the leaderboard is still too close to call. England's Fitzpatrick was eight-under overall after a second successive round of 68 while compatriots Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Laurie Canter (66) were tied-third, three shots behind the leader. English duo Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Lee Westwood (68) were tied-fifth at six-under, while Perez dropped to tied-14th after a disappointing round of 74. REUTERS DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP Day 3: StarHub Ch204, 3pm
HOUSTON (REUTERS) - Mexico's Carlos Ortiz held off world number one Dustin Johnson and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama to clinch his maiden PGA Tour title with a two-shot victory over the decorated duo at the Houston Open on Sunday (Nov 8). Ortiz, who began the day one shot back of overnight leader Sam Burns, shot a bogey-free five-under-par 65 to reach 13 under on the week at Memorial Park Golf Course where he became the third player from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour. That left him one shot clear of Matsuyama (63), whose red hot finish stalled at 18 where he missed a 13-foot birdie putt, and Johnson (65), who nearly grabbed a share of the lead at 16 where his putt from 20 feet rolled just left of the cup. Ortiz, playing in the final group along with Burns and Australian former world number one Jason Day, needed a closing par to secure the win but went one better when he drained a 22-foot birdie to cap the win in his 118th PGA Tour start. Day, who also began the day one shot off the lead, had four bogeys through his first 11 holes en route to a closing 71 that left him six shots back of Ortiz. Burns, who had the first 54-hole lead of his career and was also seeking his maiden PGA Tour win, had a bogey, birdie and double-bogey over his first four holes en route to a closing two-over 72. More on this topic Related Story No problems for Burns in Houston Related Story Golf: Michael Thompson holds share of early Houston lead, Jordan Spieth stumbles
HONG KONG, Oct 20, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - China's leading online tour guide provider Lvji Technology Holding Inc. ("Lvji Technology" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", stock code: 1745.HK) listed in Forbes Asia's Best Under A Billion 2020. The list spotlights 200 publicly listed small and midsized companies in the Asia-Pacific region with sales under $1 billion. And 56 Chinese companies are on the list, including Lvji Technology, WuXi Biologics (2269.HK), China Education Group (839.HK), and iKang Medical (1789.HK).The companies on this list have scored above their peers in a composite ranking that includes sales and profit growth, low debt levels and robust governance. The criteria also ensured a geographic diversity of companies from across the region. By using metrics both quantitative and qualitative, the final list of 200 is truly a select group.Lvji Technology is based on the core business of selling online tour guides and technology, combines with cutting-edge technologies such as GPS positioning and cloud computing. The Group provides hand- drawn maps of tourist destinations, multilingual editorial contents and voice-over commentaries, tour route recommendation, one-click navigation and other functions to provide a comprehensive travel experience. As of June 30, 2020, the Company's online tour guides covered 22,044 tourist attractions in the PRC. As of the same date, the Company's online tour guides covered 278 AAAAA tourist attractions and 2,170 AAAA tourist attractions.As the global epidemic prevention and control situation becomes normal, the company, as the China's leading online tour guide provider, will give full play to the safe and non-contact attributes of its online tour guide, VR technology, smart tourist destinations management service system and other products, serving the purposes of improving operational efficiency of tourist attractions, and of helping China's tourism industry to recover.About Lvji Technology Holdings Inc.Lvji Technology Holding Inc. was founded in December 2013, it focuses on the research and development of electronic tour guide software, global tour guide system and tourism related supporting business. Based on Lvji Technology, the intelligent tourism industry has formed multiple main businesses, such as intelligent tour guide, future scenic spot-SaaS, a mobile phone tour and scenic spot sharing facilities. Business-supported tourism ecosphere is a world-renowned intelligent tourism industry solutions expert. Lvji Technology accounts for an 86.2% market share in the online tour guide service market in terms of GMV in 2018, according to F&S. As of June 30, 2020, the Company's online tour guides covered 22,044 tourist attractions in the PRC. As of the same date, the Company's online tour guides covered 278 AAAAA tourist attractions and 2,170 AAAA tourist attractions.This press release is issued by Porda Havas International Finance Communications Group for and on behalf of Lvji Technology Holdings Inc.. For further information, please contact:Porda Havas International Finance Communications GroupTerence Wong +852 3150 6786 terence.wong@pordahavas.comIvy Lu +852 3150 6788 ivy.lu@pordahavas.comHera Wong +852 3150 6772 hera.wong@pordahavas.comLouise Liu +8621 3397 8796 louise.liu@pordahavas.comClaudia Lam +852 3150 6742 claudia.lam@pordahavas.comFax: +852 3150 6728 Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com