Brilliant Ahmed Baig wins DHA Karachi Cup

KARACHI: Ahmed Baig on Sunday fired a stunning round of seven-under-par 65 to win the DHA Karachi Cup All Pakistan Golf Championship here at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club.

Lahore’s Ahmed, who was in third place behind overnight leader Muhammad Ashfaq and second-placed Muhammad Alam at the start of the final round was in top gear as he made a series of birdies to win the title by a big six-shot margin.

Ashfaq, who was at the top of the leader-board after the first two rounds, was unable to click when it mattered the most and fell out of the race for the title midway into the final round.

Pakistan’s top player Shabbir Iqbal, who recently won the Sindh Open, finished as the runner-up with a three-day aggregate of -5. Hamza Amin, son of Pakistan golf legend Taimur Hassan, was also in full flow in the final round, carding an impressive round of five-under-par 67 to take the third position in the Rs5 million championship.

However, the star of the day was the big-hitting Ahmed who finished the championship with a three-day aggregate of -11.

In the amateurs’ category, Hamza Ghani made sure that DAC&GC will stay a happy hunting ground for him when he won the title after carding a final round 78. But he did face some anxious moments as Omar Khalid, the 16-year-old national amateur champion, continued his comeback bid with four birdies on holes 4,5,9 and 18. But it turned to be a case of too little too late for Omar who started the final round, trailing Hamza by five strokes. Omar followed his second round score of 74 with 76, the best in the amateurs’ category, but was unable to stop the more consistent Hamza from winning the title by three strokes. Omar finished as the runner-up while Saad Habib finished third.

Muhammad Akram won the seniors professionals’ title with a two-day aggregate of 147 while Abdul Wadood (144) won the juniors’ professionals’ trophy.