Steady Matloob claims Rashid Habib Memorial title

KARACHI: Matloob Ahmed once again underlined his status as one of the more consistent professionals on the national tour when he won the 8th Rashid D. Habib Memorial National Professional Golf Tournament by two strokes here at the Karachi Golf Club on Sunday.

Matloob lead the field for three days and then took calculated risks in the final round, carding a 1-under-par 71 to win the lucrative title ahead of the duo of Pakistan No.1 Shabbir Iqbal and Ansar Mehmood.

Going into the final round, Islamabad’s Hamza Amin was just one shot off the pace but he failed to click when it mattered most and had to settle for the fourth place with a final round card of 75.

It was the vastly-experienced Matloob who walked away with the trophy and the winner’s cheque of Rs630,329 after finishing the four-day championship with an aggregate of 274 (-14).

Defending champion Shabbir and Absar were the joint runners-ups with grand totals of 276 (-12). They bagged Rs324,651 each. The third position went to Hamza Amin who won Rs202,380 as prize money.

Imdad Hussain took the first position in the Senior Professionals category and bagged a winner’s purse of Rs131,670. The second position went to Muhammad Akram (Rs82,294) while the third spot went to Iftikhar Ahmed (Rs61,916).

In the KGC Professionals category Ayaz Gul took the lead and won Rs81,000. Taj Nabi of KPT, Shehzad Yousuf and Shakir Ali followed him on second place. Their share was Rs51,450 apiece.

Nabeel Khan won the KGC Caddies category and won Rs82,350. M. Nawaz was runner up with Rs66,600 and Kalfort Jan claimed third position and got Rs49,950.Latif Khaskheli was the winner in KGC Senior Professionals category ahead of Syed Jamal Badshah.Young Professionals category saw Asad Khan of PAF reigning supreme ahead of Kashif Masih.