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Shabbir Grabs Lead as Pakistan Open Tees OFF Back To Main

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KARACHI: Pakistan number one Shabbir Iqbal on Thursday fired a three-under par 69 to take a one-shot lead on the opening day of the 41st Pakistan Open Golf Championship here at the DHA Golf Club.

Showing no signs of a back problem that has dogged him in recent times, the Islamabad-based Shabbir was in top gear in the opening round as he catapulted himself to the top of the leaderboard with an excellent performance on a cool and breezy day.

Out of the 90 other aspirants in the professionals section, only six showed an appreciable urge and application of golfing skills to do well and appear as golfers of strength when it comes to facing Shabbir.

The second slot in the first day’s leaderboard is occupied by Mohammed Munir from Islamabad. With a first day’s round of 70 Munir is one stroke in arrears and possessing ample experience to tilt the battle his way. Lagging behind Shabbir and Munir are top challengers like Matloob Ahmed(Lahore) at a score of 71, and three able ones like Shahid Javed Khan (Royal Palm), Talib Hussain (Islamabad), Ansar Mehmood(Islamabad), all four bracketed at a score of par 72. Imran Ali Khan of the host club is at 73.

During the first round, Shabbir reflected the flair of a champion, his cool and calm shot-making reflecting superb control over his shots. Starting from tee number 10, Shabbir completed the back nine in 35 and going into the front nine he improved on his putting and finished it in 34. Along the way Shabbir birdied holes 10,17 and 18 on back nine and 3,5 and 8 on front nine, supplemented by nine regulation pars. Stroke losses were also encountered on three holes, but the collection of six birdies helped to overcome possibility of damage to the aggregate score of the first 18 holes.

As for Munir’s first round, it was equally excellent — 35 in and 35 out. There were birdies on holes 2,5,12 and 13,twelve pars and a couple of stroke losses on holes 9 and 16. Another competitor of good standing is Matloob Ahmed and it is always a treat to watch him in action. His card of gross 71 looks exceedingly good and Matloob was overflowing with optimistic feelings when he said: “I enjoyed my game at a very good golf course where playing conditions were as good as can be. I would love to look more competitive in the second round.”