KARACHI, Feb 15: Defending champion Taimur Hussain fired an excellent second round of five-under 67 to trail halfway leader Mutloob Ahmad by four strokes in the Nike-Standard Chartered 34th Open Golf Championship of Pakistan at the Arabian Sea Country Club Friday.

Multoob, who started with a two-stroke lead, extended his advantage to three shots after a mixed round of one-under 71 for five-under 139. Sixth ranked Mohammad Munir and qualifier Shafiq Masih carded one-under 71 to share second place at two-under 142.

Taimur had started the day trailing at a joint 20th place after a horrifying first round of 76 and eight strokes behind Mutloob.

But the local boy regrouped and recomposed himself like a true champions to find an eagle on the 410-yard par-four ninth, birdies on the par-five fifth, par-four 10th, par-five 11th and par-three 17th. He bogeyed the 411-yard par-four 16th.

Taimur found the fairways and greens at regular intervals while his putting remained accurate. The way he played today, it is certainly a bad news for his rivals as the champion is on a roll and the top three showing signs of feeling the pressure.

On a warm sunny day, overnight leader Mutloob began disastrously dropping three shots on the first three holes. He, however, recovered to find birdies on the back-to-back fifth and sixth before evening his day on the 10th.

Mutloob, who looked a bit cautious and watchful, suddenly turned aggressive on the 531-yard par-five 11th when his brilliant tee-shot set up an eagle chance which he carded successfully. Nevertheless, he conceded a shot on the par-three 17th to finish with a round of 71.

Munir and Shafiq played contrasting rounds to card 71s.

Munir had a three-birdie and two-bogey round while Shafiq began by double bogeying the first before earning three strokes on the next four holes. He dropped a shot on the par-four sixth but immediately reclaimed the shot on the seventh. Shafiq then birdied the 10th, bogeyed the 11th and 12th before earning stroke on the 14th.

Mohammad Shabbir Iqbal, country’s top ranked golfer, shrugged off yesterday’s disappointing round of 77 to card three-under 69 to get back in contention at two-over 146.

Shabbir, who played front nine of 32 including an eagle on the 512-yard par-five fourth, surrendered strokes on the 11th, 12th and 13th before finishing with birdies on the 16th and 17th.

In the amateurs, Vaqas Ahmad fired a second round of four- under 68 for three-under 141 to lead Ghazanfar Mahmood by one. Ghazanfar carded 72 after his first round 70.

Shahid Javed Khan was third eight strokes behind the leader at five-over 149 following his second round of 72.

Scores after second round:

139 - Mutloob Ahmad 68 71

142 - Mohammad Munir 71 71, Shafiq Masih 71 71

143 - Taimur Hussain 76 67

144 - Amjad Yousuf 70 74

145 - Shakeel Rehmati 73 72

146 - Mohammad Tahir Nasim 73 73, Mohammad Shabbir Iqbal 77 69

147 - Abbas Ali 71 76

149 - Manzoor Ahmad 74 75, Waheed Baloch 74 75, Mohammad Sajid 76 73

150 - Asghar Ali 74 76, Talib Husain 75 75, Ahmad Zahir 75 75, Nisar Husain 78 72

151 - Javed Inayat 73 78, Abdul Jabbar 75 76, Ghulam Nabi 78 73, Imdad Husain 79 72, Karam Husain 80 71, Mahmood Kiani 81 70

152 - Maqbool Ahmad 74 78, Arshad Ali 74 78, Mohammad Tariq 77 75, Iqbal Bashir 77 75, Ahmad Shah 81 71

153 - Mohammad Akram 76 77, Abdul Hameed 76 77, Anwar Ali 77 76, Mohammad Siddique 77 76, Pervez Khan 78 75, Sajjad Khan 79 74

154 - Shahid Haleem 76 78, Mohammad Irfan 77 77.