Impressive Matloob continues to lead in Chevron-DHA Open

By Our Correspondent

May 13, 2018

KARACHI: Matloob Ahmed catapulted himself into striking distance of winning the Chevron-DHA Karachi Cup All Pakistan Open Golf Championship when he ended the penultimate round with a three-shot advantage here at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club on Saturday.

On a day when most players fumbled in the face of challenging tees and pin positions, Matloob was one of the only four professionals to return with sub-par scores in the second round.

Lahore’s Matloob who was the leader after the first round with a spectacular card of 66 made birdies on holes 5, 8 and 12 to enjoy a three-shot advantage against second-placed Shabbir Iqbal, the reigning Pakistan No. 1. He carded two-under-par 70 in the second round. He has an aggregate of 136 (-8).

Shabbir brought himself into contention for the title in the Rs3.5 million championship when he carded 70 with birdies on holes 5, 8 and 10. His aggregate is 139 (-5).

Placed on the third spot was Muhammad Munir and the duo of Zulfiqar Ali and M Ashfaq. Munir carded 73 in the second round.

It was a tough day for the professionals as they struggled due to tough placements of tees and pins. Rehmatullah who carded 67 on the first day, finished with a disastrous 78 in the second round.

The story was even worse for the amateurs as none of them could post an impressive score on the second day.

Pakistan No. 1 Ahmed Baig who finished with 70 on day one, was unable to impress much and returned with a card of 78. But even then he is leading the pack by nine strokes with an aggregate of 148 (+4).

Placed behind him on the leader-board was Sajid Khan who carded 77 for an aggregate of 157.

Meanwhile, the organisers announced winners of the various of subsidiary categories.

Ehtasham Qadir won the members (net) category with 69. Asadullah Khan won in gross with 84. Col Qadeer won the net event in seniors while Col Mansoor Akram won the gross category with a score of 78.

Brigadier Abdul Islam won the veterans net event while Shahid Mehboob won the gross title. In ladies category, Maha Adnan won the net title while Humaira Khalid won the gross event. Omar Khalid won the juniors (net) title while Daniyal Khan won in the gross category. The winners in the masters category were Samir Feroz and Saleh Ibrahim.

The prize distribution ceremony of the championship will be held at DACGC on Sunday (today).

Following is the leader-board (professionals):

136 – Matloob Ahmed

139 – Shabbir Iqbal

143 – Muhammad Munir, Zulfiqar Ali, M Ashfaq

144 – Khalid Khan

145 – Rehmatullah

146 – Arif Ali

147 – M Zubair, M Khalid, Talib Hussain

Amateurs’ leader-board:

148 – Ahmed Baig

157 – Sajid Khan