Sultan, Akbar share lead

KARACHI: DHA’s Sultan Mahmood fired a stunning round of four-under-par 68 to take lead in the Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) Qualifying School competition on Thursday.

After carding a forgettable 77 on the opening day of the three-day trials, Sultan was in full flow as he made a series of birdies to post the best score of the competition yet. His second-round 68 propelled Sultan to a joint first place on the leader-board with Quetta’s Akbar Khan, who carded a round of 73. Both Sultan and Akbar have aggregates of 145 and are one-shot ahead of second-placed Zubair Khan (146).

DHA’s Zubair carded 70 on Thursday in the trials being simultaneously played at Karachi Golf Club and Defence Authority Country and Golf Club.Opening day’s leader Misal Khan dropped to a joint third place after a round of 76. Ali Sher, Usman Ali, Nadeem Khan and M Imran are also on third place with an aggregate of 147. They are followed by Ashir Masih, Abid Rana and Ali Asghar at 148.

Out of a total of 218 professionals, 101 made the cut for Friday’s final round to be played at KGC. The top 60 players will earn professional cards that will give them the right to compete on the national circuit. They will join an elite group of Pakistan’s top-40 golfers who have been exempted from the trials.

Meanwhile, in the senior professionals’ category, Mardan’s Asad Khan is leading the pack with an aggregate of 145 after carding 71 in the second round. He is followed by Karam Hussain (147), Raja Iftikhar (150) and Maqbool Ahmed (150).

The PGF trials are being supervised by President Sindh Golf Association (SGA) Asad I.A Khan with Dr Ali Haider (PGF joint secretary) and Salman Abbasi. Ahmed Jameel Siddiqi and Commodore Zafar Mahmood are the chief referees.