Shabbir sizzles with 64 to take lead in UMA-CNS Open

KARACHI: When Shabbir Iqbal played a par-round on the opening day of the UMA 22nd Chief of Naval Staff Open Golf Championship on Thursday, he was asked as to why he didn’t go for the kill right from the word go.

“It’s a four-day championship and I like to play it like a Test match,” he responded.But Shabbir knew that with defending champion Matloob Ahmed carding a brilliant round of four-under par 68, playing risk-free golf could force him to lag behind in the Rs7 million championship. That’s something you can’t afford in an event which is by far the most lucrative golf tournament in the country’s history.

The Pakistan No 1, looking for his third title-winning triumph in a row after claiming the recently-held Sindh Open and UBL Independence Day Cup, upped the ante on Friday as he sank a series of birdies to card a spectacular round of eight-under 64.

Had Shabbir not missed a simple birdie putt here at the Karachi Golf Club, he would have equaled the course record of 63 posted by former national champion Ali Hai.“It was a good round for me,” said the big-hitting Shabbir who now has a sizeable five-shot lead after aggregating 136 (-8) at the midway stage of the championship. “I’m in good form and will hopefully play even better over the next couple of days,” he added.

That’s bad news for other title contenders like local pro Waheed Baloch, who catapulted himself to second place on the leader-board with an excellent round of four-under 68.Waheed seemed a bit of out of touch after scoring 73 on the opening day, but was in his element in the second round. He began with four birdies on front nine (Blue) on holes 1,4,6 and 8. He also had a birdie on the par-5 second hole on the Red but a bogey on the eighth hole forced him to contend with a joint second spot with Matloob, who finished with 73. They have similar aggregates of 141 (-3).

They were followed by Muhammad Asfaq who carded 70 for an aggregate of 142. Trailing him was former champion Muhammad Munir who faltered a bit, scoring 74.In the senior pros category, Nadeem Inayat played a spectacular round of 67 to take a two-shot lead over title favourite Imdad Hussain (69). They were followed by Muhammad Akram, Iftikhar Ahmed, Muhammad Iqbal, Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Ilyas and Ghani Khan.

In the junior professionals’ event, Zeeshan Khan (72) was leading the fleet ahead of Usman Ali (74) and Nadeem Almas (76).Competitions for senior amateurs, juniors and ladies will take place alongside the professionals and amateurs on Saturday (today).

Following is the leader-board (professionals) after second round:

136: Shabbir Iqbal (72-64).

141: Waheed Baloch (73-68); Matloob Ahmed (68-73).

142: Muhammad Ashfaq (72-70).

144: Muhammad Munir (70-74).

145: Muhammad Zubair; Ansar Mehmood.

146: Daniyal Jahangir, Muhammad Tariq, Moazzam Siddiq, Naeem Khan.