He was one shot ahead of Scotland's 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie, who was tied in another big group including Frenchmen Thomas Levet and Jean Van de Velde, the runner-up at Carnoustie in 1999.

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Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is the front-runner to succeed her husband in the Oct. 28th presidential election.

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Its entry includes two former world rally champions in Carlos Sainz and Ari Vatanen, as well as last year's runner-up Giniel de Villiers.

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Olazabal's situation, however, is far more promising than that facing 1999 Open runner-up Jean Van de Velde.

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Meanwhile, Mr. Thompson, who came within five points of beating Mr. Bloomberg in 2009, has sat back, letting Mr. de Blasio go after the front-runner.

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That runner-up has now been de-crowned as Miss (sic) San Antonio and re-crowned Miss (sic) Bexar County.

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But Mr. de Blasio charged that the Democratic front-runner hadn't been listening to workers, and he pledged to keep the issue alive during the campaign.

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