Shabbir, Tallat share lead as amateurs Omar, Damil shine in COAS Open

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan No 1 Shabbir Iqbal’s second consecutive four-under 68 helped him catch up with the overnight leader Tallat Ejaz in the COAS Pakistan Open Golf Championship following the second round at the Pindi Golf Club on Saturday.

Following the penultimate round, both Shabbir and Tallat are tied for a share of the lead at eight-under 136 over two rounds. Shabbir on Saturday played four under with the help of six birdies. However, the double bogie dented his card as he ended the day at four-under. “It all now depends on the final round as we both enjoy a four-stroke lead over nearest rivals going into the final round on Sunday. I was going well till the time, a wayward shot resulted in a double bogie. I could have added a few more birdies had I succeeded in making better use of putting,” Shabbir told 'The News' following his second-round exhibition of high-quality golf.

Tallat carded three-under for the second day, managing five birdies and losing a stroke each on back-to-back holes. “The greens are playing brilliantly at the Pindi Golf Club which helped my cause. Following five-under on the first day, I made every possible attempt to stay in front but Shabbir is a quality golfer who denied me the opportunity.”

Tallat, the winner of Al Buraq Golf at Mangla this January hoped to make the best use of the ideal conditions Sunday to scoop up a lucrative winners’ cheque of Rs 1.2 million.

“It is a huge occasion as we are playing in the richest domestic circuit event. Hopefully, I will be in a position to repeat my first-round performance. Since my firm is helping me, I am confident to outwit my opponents in the final round,” he said.

Experienced golfer Muhammad Munir also staged a fightback, carding four under 68 for the second round, following his score of par on the first day which by no means justified his class. Going into the final round on Sunday Munir will be seen trying to nullify the four-stroke gape. A further stroke behind was Peshawar’s Mohammad Naeem (141) who is three under on aggregate. On Saturday, he carded two under 70 to join the top four group. The second day’s best score came from Ahmad Baig who played a sensational round of seven-under 65. However, his first round of eight over 80 hurt his cause as he was seen languishing at 14th place in the professional category with one over 145 for 36 holes.

Pakistan No.1 amateur Omar Khalid and Damil Attaullah are tied for the lead in the amateurs gross category with two over 146 following 36 holes. Omar, a 17-yearold A levels student at Karachi's Nixor College, carded yet another round of one over 73 following the same score he got on an opening day Friday while Damil returned with a score of par 72 on the second day to achieve two over for two days. Salman Jahangir and Teepu Raja both are further three strokes adrift at 149 for 36 holes.

Maj Saleem, played a brilliant round of 60 net to get an aggregate score of 10 under. The nine-stroke handicap golfer carded 60 net on the second day to end 10 under net for two days. Maj Ali Uzair and Atif Fareed were tied for the second spot in the amateur net category with seven-under 137.

In the ladies' competition, Rimsha Ijaz was the early leader carding one over gross while Areeba Rizwan was ahead in net competition with four under 68 net.