Zohaib takes big lead as President SGA Cup tees off

KARACHI: It was a near flawless performance. In relatively nice and windy conditions, Zohaib Asif made an eagle and four birdies to card a stunning opening day score of five-under par 67 in the President SGA Cup here at the Defence Authority Golf and Country Club on Saturday.

The lanky Zohaib, who was recently selected to represent Pakistan at this year’s Nomura Cup in Hong Kong, was in his element as he eagled the par-4 fifth hole and made a couple of birdies on each side to take a whopping five-shot lead in the two-day championship.

The high point for Zohaib came on the fifth hole in which his drive landed behind the bunker guarding the right side of the green. His perfect chip rolled straight into the hole. Zohaib’s only bogey of the day came on the par-5 eighth hole when his attempt to get his second shot on the island green failed.

“It was really my day,” said Zohaib, who is hoping to give another good showing in the final round on Sunday.

Placed at the second place on the leader-board was M Sharif who returned with a par round of 72. He was followed in the third spot by Sajid Khan (73). Completing Sunday’s leader flight will be 15-year-old Omar Khalid, who carded an impressive round of 75. Omar, a Grade 10 student of Froebel Education Centre, was in top gear till the 13th hole at -2 with birdies on holes 1, 12 and 17. Omar was followed by Waqas Burki (77), Vivek Anand, Bilal Naseem (78), Captain Imran Rana (79), Abdul Rehman (79) and Ali Mehmood (79).

Meanwhile, Qazi Amir Hussain, who recently turned senior, catapulted himself in a solid position by carding 77 in the opening round. He was followed by Omar Bangash and Major Irfan at 78, Ahmed Jameel Siddiqui (79), Asad I A Khan (80), Shahid Azim Khan (81) and Azhar Abbas (82).

There was a major upset in the ladies category when fast-rising Daniah Syed shocked title favourite Aania Farooq. Dania carded 78, beating Aania (80) by two strokes. Daniah’s sister Abeeha Hanim Syed (71) won in the net category. There was a tie for the runner-up position in the net category between Humera Khalid and Amna Amjad. Amna took the second place.

Yashal Shah (80) won the juniors (gross) category while Sameer Saeed (81) was the runner-up. Raza Rahid was winner in the net category. Hyder Bilal was runner-up. In the veterans category, Brig Islam (81) won the gross title while Col Shahid Mehboob was the runner-up. Group captain Aftab A Khan was the winner in net category while Jalil Tareen was the runner-up. The championship will conclude on Sunday (today).