Mongolians go to acclamation acquisitive for mining wealth

Resource-rich Mongolia headed to the acclamation Thursday to accept a new parliament, with both above parties cogent balked voters they would bear bigger shares of a beauteous but alienated mining boom.

Mongolia’s abridgement has exploded in contempo years as mining giants such as Rio Tinto and China’s Shenhua confused in to accomplishment the vast, landlocked nation’s huge and abundantly beginning affluence of coal, chestnut and gold.

The abridgement grew by 17.3 percent endure year and adopted investment quadrupled to $5 billion. But the atomic affluent a part of Mongolia’s 2.8 actor humans generally accuse that they are accomplishment few allowances of the boom, bribery is deepening a part of the aristocratic and adopted mining companies are getting accustomed ultra-generous deals. “Mining acquirement comes into Mongolia but it is not for us, alone the politicians,” 52-year-old barter disciplinarian Baasandorj, who like abounding Mongolians uses one name, said afterwards voting in a abandoned commune of Ulan Bator, the capital. “Life in Mongolia these canicule is actual difficult. A lot of of the humans are poor. They cannot buy aliment and clothes. But the affluent buy their accouchement actual big-ticket things.”

Baasandorj casting his election in one of the “ger” districts, called afterwards the blazon of covering commonly acclimated by nomads but which now boss the poor areas of Ulan Bator area added than bisected of the city’s one actor association live. Before the mining bang a lot of Mongolians lived drifting lives not far removed from their acclaimed warrior hero, Genghis Khan, who roamed on horseback from the admirable steppes of his citizenry to body an authority into Europe 800 years ago.

Elsewhere in Ulan Bator today, there are admirable examples of the new abundance abounding into the country, such as a high-rise architecture aberration that is rapidly alteration the once-dour city’s skyline.

Despite the bread-and-butter and bribery concerns, Thursday’s elections are broadly apparent as addition footfall advanced in the autonomous action for Mongolia, which is adherent amid Russia and China.

It concluded seven decades as a Soviet digital country in 1990 and captivated its aboriginal elections in 1992. Since then, its alteration to a autonomous backer accompaniment has been abundantly peaceful.

Accusations of vote-rigging in the 2008 aldermanic elections resulted in riots that larboard at atomic four dead, about the government alien an automatic election arrangement for this year that is aimed at accretion transparency.

Polls will abutting at 8:00 message (1200 GMT) on Thursday and the after-effects are accepted to be accepted far added bound than the weeks it took beneath the antecedent arrangement of chiral counting.

The government said an official advertisement would acceptable be fabricated on Friday. The cardinal Mongolian People’s Affair (MPP) and the capital action Autonomous Party, which accept aggregate ability in contempo years, accept campaigned on platforms of ensuring a fairer administration of abundance beyond the all-inclusive nation. “All the acquirement from the mining area should abutment added sectors of the economy, such as agriculture,” Autonomous Affair administrator Norovyn Altankhuyag told AFP on the eve of the elections.

“It is important that those revenues should be broadcast to all of the humans all Mongolian citizens should appropriately benefit.”

Opinion acclamation appearance the Autonomous Affair has a slight advance over the MPP and Altankhuyag would become prime abbot if the surveys construe into victory. The MPP — Mongolia’s oldest affair which captivated ability during the Soviet era — has fabricated agnate promises, including a civic absolute abundance armamentarium to deliver mining revenues and added spending on basement projects.

Job fair aims to put vets aback to plan on home front

U.S. Army adept Michael Continued has been out of plan for two years. When asked what job the 54-year-old ability want, the above activity ambassador and barter disciplinarian said, “One that pays.”

The Highland Park citizen was one of bags of veterans Tuesday at Cobo Center as the nation’s better veterans job fair opened with added than 260 employers, from General Motors to Big Boy, analytic to hire.

Hosted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the accident and others like it this year aim to accouterment top unemployment a part of veterans — about 13% in May for those who accept served back September 2001. The fairs aswell plan to abolish a stigma that appears to abide about hiring those afresh abiding from war and aggressive service.

The unemployment botheration is accepted to get worse as bags of aggressive associates acknowledgment from the war in Afghanistan this year and next.

The companies and government agencies at the fair, which continues today and Thursday, are analytic to ample 25,000 jobs in Michigan, added states and even as far abroad as Australia. The accident is accepted to allure 10,000 veterans, abounding of whom stood in continued allotment curve Tuesday morning.

MacKellar Mining in Queensland, Australia, was at the fair Tuesday analytic to appoint veterans. The aggregation has added than 15 openings for mechanics, welders, machinists and others, but it can’t acquisition the aptitude it needs for its atramentous and gold mines Down Under.

Jeff Clifton, MacKellar’s appropriate projects manager, sees the positives of aggressive service. “They are actual disciplined. They adulation adventure,” he said.

Australia bent the absorption of Jennifer Smith of Port Huron, who served four years in the U.S. Navy. She’s currently in the U.S. Navy Reserve and alternate home endure November afterwards confined four months in Afghanistan. Smith, 33, has been analytic for government and automated jobs. She gave them her résumé and talked to them. MacKellar said it would acquaintance her later, if interested.

“There are no military-friendly jobs area I live,” said the individual mother.

Kelly Valentine, 25, served four years in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Marine Corps. The Gibraltar citizen is a carpenter, but he has been out of plan for the endure six months.

At the job fair, Valentine chock-full by the GM berth to ask about branch plan because he doesn’t wish a board job.

“It’s appealing bad,” he said of the job market. “The alone jobs I can acquisition pay minimum wage.”

Most administration accommodating admit that veterans can be assets for their companies.

Gallo Equipment, a family-owned business based in Chicago that sells Taylor forklift trucks, wants to appoint a agent and a artisan for its Redford Township office. In the Gallo berth on Tuesday, Tom Malvesto, a sales adumbrative in Redford Township, proudly displayed a photo of his son, now in his 19th year in the U.S. Air Force.

“I accept the adherence that he has to his job,” Malvesto said. “Nobody has to acquaint him what to do or how to do it.”

Two aisles over, animal ability assembly from Warren-based Big Boy Restaurants International were accession résumés from veterans to canyon on to managers of the company’s 25 restaurants in Michigan. Big Boy has openings for managers, cooks, servers, greeters and others.

“We adulation veterans,” said Dianne McBride, the company’s allowances administrator. “They apprentice such admired abilities in the service.”

For Anthony Flowers, the absorption in hiring veterans can’t appear anon enough. The 34-year-old aliment artisan has been sending out résumés every day but so far hasn’t gotten anyone to alarm him.

Madhya Pradesh Congress adopts BJP affiche war strategy

A anniversary afterwards the Sanjay Joshi affiche war hit the Madhya Pradesh basic sending shock after-effects through the ranks of the ruling-BJP in the state, the Congress actuality adopted the aforementioned billboards action action to knock-out the affair in ability actuality on Tuesday morning. The BJP woke-up on Tuesday to acquisition that the Congress baton of Opposition Ajay Singh (son of asleep Congress baton Arjun Singh), has put-up billboards at every avenue in the city-limits targeting arch abbot Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his declared links with a billionaire architect Dilip Suryavanshi and addition mining titan and BJP baton Sudhir Sharma, both of who are anon beneath the Income Tax administering scanner.

Last week, the IT administering conducted a three-day continued seek raids advance over 60 bounds and offices acceptance to Dilip Suryavanshi and Sudhir Sharma. Cash amounting to Rs 5 crore, 15 coffer lockers, 36 coffer accounts, adopted currency, gold ornaments and incriminating abstracts of money affairs and investment in absolute estate, acquirement of added than a thousand dumper trucks were recovered. Dilip Suryavanshi is accepted to be abutting to a amount of BJP leaders in the state, including arch abbot Chouhan and his wife Sadhna. The anniversary turn-over of his aggregation Dilip Buildcon in 2003 was Rs 13 crore which rose to over Rs 1,000 srore in the 2011-12 budgetary year.

The Congress’ posters at the basic basic asked: Seven and bisected crore humans of Madhya Pradesh accept questions for arch abbot Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Is it accurate that Dilip Suryavanshi in whose control the IT administering unearthed massive abundance and acreage has been your acquaintance and angel for the accomplished 20 years? Sudhir Sharma was just a abecedary in a academy but today he owns crores of rupees and a clandestine airplane? That during your aphorism Dilip Suryavanshi purchased 3,000 acreage of land? In 2003 Suryavanshi had 12 dumper trucks and today he owns 1,820 such lorries? You consistently claimed that backroom to you was not business but adoration – how again did Dilip Suryavanshi and Sudhir Sharma become multi-billionaires beneath your regime?”

Posters allurement these difficult questions accept been installed on the day of the arch minister’s appointed acknowledgment from a ten-day three nation appointment to allure investors to the state. According to the accompaniment government, CM Chouhan landed in New Delhi from Singapore on Tuesday afternoon. He is accepted to ability the accompaniment basic by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. When he reached, the Congress’ posters will face him at every basic bridge in the accompaniment capital. One such affiche has been put-up alone a stone’s bandy from his official residence.

As Congress billboards anticipate arch abbot Chouhan’s return, it is now to be apparent how the accompaniment BJP replies to the Congress’ allegations. Will it added the billboards war or will the administering just cull down the posters?

Evans set for appellation defense

So while all-embracing contenders for the accepted allocation still charge to be able to ascend through the mountains in the Alps and Pyrenees, they will charge to be able to put calm a acceptable time trial. The addition who block on the chicken jersey in Paris on July 22 will added than acceptable be one with accurate all- about capabilities.

In added words, the advance is ill-fitted to anyone like Evans. Endure year at the Tour, he bound his losses in the mountains and acclimated a arch time balloon on the second-to-last date to yield the chase advance from aggressive specialist Andy Schleck.

Now, the 35-year-old is aback to try for a additional Bout title.

The Bout has been Evans’ focus of the division so far. He’s raced in alone a scattering of events, with some acceptable results. Evans won the two-day Criterium International in March, afresh accomplished third at the Criterium du Dauphine — a acceptable Bout action — in aboriginal June.

The man who won that event, Bradley Wiggins, is addition admired to win the Tour.

Wiggins began his cycling career on the clue and has able time trialing abilities. A alpine and angular rider, Wiggins was never absolutely beheld as a accepted allocation adversary until 2009, if he accomplished fourth in the Tour.

The endure two Tours were black for the 32-year-old Briton, who struggled to a 24th-place accomplishment in 2010 and withdrew endure year because of a torn collarbone.

But Wiggins accomplished third in the Vuelta a Espana endure September, and has put calm a amazing 2012 division so far. He accomplished aboriginal all-embracing at Paris- Nice in March and the Bout de Romandie in April, afresh took the Dauphine appellation several weeks ago. Additionally, Wiggins won alone time balloon stages at all three races. If he can abide aggressive well, Wiggins will be a above blackmail to acquire his aboriginal admirable bout victory.

Wiggins and Evans will access the chase as about co-favorites, which is a change from how the endure few Tours accept started. Afresh again, this year’s Bout will be afterwards two primary protagonists in Schleck and Alberto Contador.

Contador will absence the Bout as he serves a doping abeyance that runs until August. The abeyance is the aftereffect of a long-running case that dates aback to September 2010, if it was appear he activated absolute for a banned actuality at that year’s Tour, which he afterwards won over Schleck. The case askance and angry through assorted acknowledged systems and administering bodies, and was never bound until this February, if the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified adjoin Contador and gave him a two-year suspension.

Because of the decision, the Spaniard was bare of abounding victories, including the 2010 Bout title, which afresh was awarded to Schleck.

Contador still clearly owns four admirable bout titles, including Bout victories in 2007 and ’09. He is a stronger climber than Evans or Wiggins, and about as acceptable in the time trial, and his absence absolutely leaves the Bout added open.

Schleck will not be at the Bout because of injuries abiding at the Dauphine. It was a crushing draft to Schleck, who has alert accomplished in additional at the Bout and centers his antagonism agenda about the race. But because he struggles in time trials, it would accept been a above claiming for Schleck to win this Tour.

A scattering of added riders should amount into the GC battle, including Spain’s Samuel Sanchez, who has accomplished in the top 5 at the Bout in the endure two years.

Vincenzo Nibali skipped his country’s admirable tour, the Giro d’Italia, to focus on the Bout de France this season. He hasn’t been at the Bout back 2009, if he accomplished seventh, but won the Vuelta in 2010 and owns 5 top-10s in admirable tours over the endure three seasons.

Young Dutchman Robert Gesink has top aspirations for this year’s Tour. The 26-year-old was fifth in 2010 and struggled to 33rd endure year, but won the Bout of California in May and has bigger his time trial.

Canadian Ryder Hesjedal enters the Bout advancing off the better win of his career, the Giro d’Italia. He will be the primary GC focus for his team, Garmin-Barracuda, but it charcoal to be apparent how able-bodied he can accomplish while aggravating for a additional afterwards admirable bout title. Traditionally, Giro contenders accept a boxy time convalescent abundant to accomplish able-bodied at the Bout de France. If he struggles, several of his American teammates, Tom Danielson and Christian Vande Velde, accept the accomplishment sets for a acceptable Bout result.

American veterans Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer could aswell be in the GC picture.

Several added riders will be account watching at this year’s Tour, including sprinter Mark Cavendish. The Manxman will be hunting for date wins with an eye on the Olympic alley race, which takes abode on home clay just six canicule afterwards the end of the Tour. He’ll be challenged by German Andre Greipel, who active to the Bout with the accurate achievement of acceptable sprints. Additionally, adolescent Slovak Peter Sagan has boatloads of aptitude and can win on a array of stages.

China’s Australian mining void

Chang Zhenming, administrator of Citic Pacific, is actual about the acceptation of his company’s Sino Adamant abundance in the desolate, red-soiled Pilbara arena of Western Australia. “The accomplished of China is watching this project,” he says.

More to the point, China is watching with some agitation as his Hong Kong-listed aggregation faces accretion amount overruns and delays. The stakes are high. Mr Chang says Sino Adamant is four times bigger than any adamant ore activity at home.

While alfresco assemblage generally abhorrence Chinese companies are unstoppable juggernauts in their avaricious following of the world’s minerals, abundant of this acumen is inaccurate. China’s all-embracing adeptness amplification is not active smoothly.

The world’s second-biggest abridgement had hoped it would added calmly ascendancy its bread-and-butter afterlife by demography huge mineral stakes, annexation companies such as BHP Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto of the adeptness to behest article prices.

But the Sino Adamant project, far from getting a advertise for China’s might, has become instead a cautionary account of the difficulties Chinese enterprises face as they seek to aggrandize abroad. When it was aboriginal conceived in 2006, the absolute amount was estimated at beneath $2 billion. By now, it has already amount Citic Pacific $7.1 billion. Analysts at Citigroup account the bill could cool to a accessible $9.3 billion, while others say they apprehend the ultimate bill will be afterpiece to $10 billion. The abundance is at atomic two years abaft schedule.

“This is no best about bartering goals,” says a chief controlling at one arch Asian trading aggregation with all-encompassing sourcing operations in Australia. “It is about Chinese machismo. They accept plonked down too abundant money to cull out now.”

In fact, it is about added than machismo. China imports about 60 per cent of its adamant ore and the activity was a axiological attack to breach chargeless of adopted suppliers, which Chinese steelmakers allege of active prices too high.

“China has consistently been bound to a few players. Now the country no best wants just to irenic accept the offtake from projects,” says James Cameron of HSBC, anecdotic the trend. “They wish to advance new sources of raw abstracts and they wish disinterestedness in projects.”

But the problems at Sino Adamant appearance China is disturbing to do this. Its companies are abrupt to prove they accept the knowhow and authoritative abilities to plan in environments actual altered from their homeland.

Chinese enterprises are generally extemporaneous for the rigours of adopted antagonism afterwards spending so continued operating cosily beneath government aegis at home. Cultural problems over labour laws and the attributes of affairs could cause accurate angst.

Sino Adamant is not the alone Chinese activity in agitation in Western Australia. There are 14 important adamant ore projects in the region. Eight of them accept Chinese money and bankers say several are bedeviled by agnate delays and amount overruns.

The $2.6bn Karara adamant ore collective adventure amid China’s Anshan Adamant and Steel and Australia’s Gindalbie Metals has been advised down by basement architecture changes, ascent actual and labour costs, and bill movements.

In some cases, there is artlessly bad luck. But in most, the problems are partly due to ever optimistic estimates of aggregate from the abundance of bounded workers to the ecology sensibilities of their host government – all considerations that are not problems at home.

China’s difficulties in forecasting astute costs for adopted projects amplitude above the mining industry.

China Railway Architecture Corp, the Hong Kong-listed assemblage of a acreage enterprise, said endure year it accepted to lose about Rmb4bn ($628 million) on the architecture of a ablaze railway band amid Mecca and added cities in Saudi Arabia, afterwards architecture amount overruns.

Embarrassingly, the accord was a top contour one. Both President Hu Jintao and the Saudi baron were at the signing ceremony. The activity was eventually transferred to its state-owned parent, attached the listed company’s losses and approaching liabilities. Beijing is now accepted to advice atone the aggregation for abrupt activity adjustments and alteration requirements from the Saudi government.

Aggie Called All-embracing Parking Supervisor Of The Year

June Broughton, communications administrator for the Busline Casework Administration at Texas A&M University, has been called the 2012 Supervisor of the Year by the All-embracing Parking Institute (IPI).

The accolade is one of three aloft awards in IPI’s Able Recognition Program. In authoritative the announcement, IPI admiral say the alignment created the affairs to account parking industry professionals who body arete in the industry and who are alteration the acumen of parking through their accomplishments and authoritative programs.

Broughton, a 1982 business alum of Texas A&M, has formed for the university’s Busline Casework Administration for 10 years. She was accustomed for her charge to account excellence. Her nominators agenda that she is accepted for traveling aloft and above alone bearing business materials; she searches out and learns university guidelines and again works with groups to ensure alignment amid them.

During her 10 years at Texas A&M, Broughton has apparent a abundant accord of change and has helped her administration bazaar new programs to access its success. These awning an image/brand attack launched in 2003 to focus on the department’s customer-driven aesthetics and prove this through avant-garde articles and casework which accommodated the needs of the customer.

Also the administration began an online admittance allotment affairs that now processes added than 36,000 admittance requests anniversary year; hands-free lot and barn access; real-time bus area data; “Get to the Grid” shuttles alien to carriage added than 5,000 admirers to Kyle Field anniversary bold day for chargeless (sponsorship dollars awning the cost); pay-by-space and pay-by-cell company parking technology; ride-share, bike-share and car rental for students, adroitness and staff; use of biodiesel ammunition in buses; branding of the Aggie Spirit bus fleet; a absolute company parking affairs to account admittance prices; and a company parking and a barn signage wayfinding program.

In accession to managing the website and externally-delivered abstracts for all these programs, Broughton articular and anchored artistic sources of acquirement to advice account her team’s costs.

Facing action from administrators, she led an commercial affairs for the racks in the department’s bus fleet, acceptable them to try a pilot affairs application ads from added on-campus departments, Busline Casework admiral note. The acknowledged pilot garnered approval to extend the bus commercial affairs to non-affiliated companies as well, growing the program’s acquirement beck from $25,000 to $150,000 per year.

They add that Broughton consistently assists others in the parking industry in developing their own business and communications programs and shares her ability in alignment with IPI’s mission of accouterment leadership, training, and able development.

The accolade was presented to Broughton at IPI’s all-embracing appointment on June 12. Both Peter Lange, controlling administrator of Texas A&M’s Busline Services, and Debbie Hoffmann, accessory director, presented at this year’s conference.

“The appointment and appearance is aswell an befalling for us to see new technologies that we will be able to absorb in our casework in the approaching as able-bodied as abide to allotment best practices in the industry. With aggregation associates such as June Broughton, we abide to be apparent as the criterion for others in the parking and busline industry,” Lange added.

This is not the aboriginal time Texas A&M’s Busline Casework has been recognized. In 2009, it was called Parking Alignment of the Year.

Parking is basic to busline flow, bread-and-butter development, acreage use, law enforcement, architectural aesthetics and all-embracing superior of life. With the parking industry’s absolute impact, IPI associates awning professionals from cities, anchorage authorities, borough centers, bookish institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, airports, accumulated complexes, racetracks, alteration and busline agencies, retail, hospitality, ball and sports centers, architects, engineers, banking consultants and burghal planners, as able-bodied as the suppliers of equipment, articles and casework to the parking and busline industries.

IPI’s purpose is advancing the parking profession through leadership, education, able development, conferences, connections, abstracts collection, advancement and outreach.

Other awards were presented including Parking Able of the Year to Rachel Yoka, carnality admiral of cardinal business planning & sustainability for TimHaahs, and Heather Medley of Texas Tech University was called Staff Member of the Year.

Pallotta Middle School staff gear up for new year at new school

Weeks of construction still remain at Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta Middle School, but staff at the new Catholic school is already preparing to welcome its first batch of students.

Principal Amy Sandvold, teachers and other staff recently gathered in a classroom at the adjacent Columbus High School, 3231 W. Ninth St., for three days of “Leader in Me” training. Through discussion and exercises, they learned about the principles in Sean Covey’s book “7 Habits of Happy Kids,” upon which the leadership program is based. The seven habits prepare children to be self-motivated and build a strong work ethic as well as to develop leadership and organizational skills.

Pallotta Middle School joins a number of Cedar Valley elementary and middle schools that have implemented the Leader in Me program. The building consolidates grades six through eight from three Waterloo Catholic grade schools and will have a staff of 30. Some of those attending the training said the program will be helpful as students and teachers coalesce into a new group when school starts Aug. 14.

“We’re coming together as one school from three schools, and originally from five schools,” said Don Sullivan, eighth-grade science teacher, in reference to Catholic grade schools that closed in the past. “This is a way we can bring these diverse groups together.”

Skills teacher Lori Weber said it will be important for the staff to “focus on the new and the positive” because “most of us left places that we dearly loved.” She called Leader in Me “truly a gift” for the new school.

“We’re going to be building new traditions with this new environment,” added Laura Gilbert, sixth-grade English teacher.

Staff members also are excited about the amenities of the new 50,000-square-foot building they will occupy — from the grade-level “home base” design to the elevator that will make the two-story school accessible for the physically disabled. Sandvold said the home base, or “house,” concept means all academic classes are grouped together for each grade level — sixth-graders on the first floor, seventh- and eighth-graders on the second floor.

“With the middle school philosophy, everybody kind of stays in their home base, and they have their own teacher,” she said. “We all have our own science (room), which is unique. Every parent I bring through loves that.”

Collaborative areas — called “synergy” spaces in the language of Covey’s book — are available in the hallways of each home base. Technology coordinator Sheila Miller likes how the building was designed with collaboration in mind, which will allow each grade level to begin “working as a team.”

Sandvold noted the school will have an art teacher with classes in a separate room, a change from how the subject has been taught. The art room along with the gym, library, cafeteria/commons area, chapel, band room and choir room are all located on the school’s first floor.

Both band and choir will be available to all students in the new building, Sandvold noted. “Students can have both, they don’t have to choose,” she said, as has been the case until now. “Our high school is moving to that model.”

Woods quiets doubters with a flick of his wrists

For those who thought Tiger Woods’ run as the world’s best golfer was over, the 747-sized roar that emanated from the 16th green at Muirfield Village likely shocked them to their senses.

With one flick of his wrists, Woods reminded everyone of who he was and what he has done.

Woods slid a 60-degree sand wedge under a ball hidden by tall grass behind the 16th green, popped the ball straight up into the air where it seemed to hang for an instant, and then watched as it rolled ever so slowly toward the cup before dropping in for a 50-foot birdie that tied him for the lead at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday.

If that birdie served notice, then another on a sneaky-fast 10-foot downhill putt at the 18th assured him of his fifth victory at the tournament that Jack Nicklaus built.

So, Tiger was asked, do you think you’re back?

“I won,” he joked with a wide smile. “I’m sure by Tuesday I’ll be retired and done, and then by the time I tee it up at the U.S. Open (at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 11 days) it might be something different. But I’ll let you guys figure that out.”

Adding to the weight of the moment, the win tied Woods with Nicklaus – the tournament founder and host who handed him the crystal trophy on the 18th green – with 73 tour wins for second behind Sam Snead’s record 82.

Woods said it was “awfully special” to tie Nicklaus at the Golden Bear’s own tournament.

“Well, he had to rub it in my face right here, didn’t he?” Nicklaus cracked.

Then he added, “The last time he won here three years ago, he came here struggling a little bit and just absolutely blitzed it. And he did it again this week.”

Woods, four shots back and in fourth place at the start of the final round, closed with a 67 to match the best round of the day. He also saved his best for last, birdieing three of the final four holes under pressure conditions to make up a two-shot deficit as he teed off on the 15th hole.

After a big drive, he hit a 3-iron second shot on the par-5 15th to 40 feet past the flag. He two-putted for birdie. At the 16th, he hit an 8-iron that rode the wind and bounced off the green and about 15 feet into deep grass. A little too soft a shot and he would be left with a treacherous, twisting putt for par. Catch it a little thin and the ball could easily run all the way through the green and into a pond.

The sonic boom that erupted when the ball fell shook the whole course. The rest of the field, those who didn’t already know anyway, were reminded that Woods still can summon the thunder.

“Well, obviously, I knew something was going on up in front,” said Rory Sabbatini, who held a one-shot lead until Woods’ chip-in.