Shabbir romps to big lead in Chairman JCSC Golf

KARACHI: Shabbir Iqbal seems to be in the form of his life. And following three stunning rounds in a row, the Pakistan No.1 looks set to win the 13th Chairman JCSC Open Golf Championship here at the Karachi Golf Club on Tuesday (today).

Such has been Shabbir’s dominance that the title favourite has accumulated a massive lead of nine strokes going into the fourth and final round of the championship.

After carding an impressive score of five-under par 67 in the opening round on Saturday, Shabbir produced a late flurry of birdies on Sunday for 66 and then continued his sensational run in the third round on Monday by carding six-under-par 66. He now has a 54-hole aggregate of 199 (-17).

Local favourite Waheed Baloch catapulted himself to second place on the leader-board with a superb round of 66 following scores of 72 and 70 in the first two rounds. He has an aggregate of 208. In third place is Lahore’s Muhammad Shehzad (209) who carded 70 on Monday. Ahmed Baig carded 72 and is placed on the fourth spot at 210. He is followed by the duo of Minhaj Maqsood and Nabeel Khan at 212. Trailing them are Hamza Amin and Azam Khan at 214. Earlier on Sunday evening, Lahore’s Noman Ilyas won the amateurs title by a solitary stroke with Omar Khalid Hussain finishing as the runner-up.