|
|
| July 28, 2002 | Sunday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17,1423 |
Shabbir surges into four-stroke lead
KARACHI, July 27: Shabbir Iqbal shot a one-under 71 in the third round of the CNS golf championship to extend his lead to four strokes at the Karachi Golf Course Saturday.
Shabbir, who led Amjad Yousuf and Shafiq Masih by one after 36 holes, is now four ahead of his closest rival Imdad Hussain who played the best round of the day.
Imdad fired a five-under 67 under overcast conditions. The wind also made it difficult for the golfers as only 10 out of 46 managed to break the par.
He was at par after three rounds and sets up an exciting finale with Shabbir. Mohammad Akram was third at one-over 217 after carding one-under 71 while there was a three-way tie for the fourth place but six off the leader.
Shafiq found the going tough when he shot a five-over 77 to slump to three-over 218 for the tournament and seven behind Shabbir. Amjad was a shadow of himself when he fired six-over 78 for four-over 220.
Shafiq had five bogeys on the front-nine and another two on the back-nine. He made birdies on the par-four 12th and par-five 14th.
Imdad had started the day at joined 16th place at five-over 149 after Friday’s round. But on Saturday, he set the course on fire with five birdies, an eagle on the par-five 14th with bogeys on the par-four ninth and par-three 11th.
Shabbir made the first bogey in two days and after 24 holes when he dropped a stroke on the par-four seventh. Nevertheless, like a determined golfer wanting to excel at any cost, lifted himself to get the stroke back on the par-four 13th before breaking even for the day on the par-five 14th.
Akram had a mixed front-nine when he dropped three strokes and earned strokes on the par-four third and par-three eighth. He then made amends by throwing caution to the wind with an adventurous tee-shot on the par-five 14th that earned him an eagle.
Ghani Khan made successive birdies on the fourth and fifth but conceded a stroke on the 18th.
Scores after third round
212 - Shabbir Iqbal 74 67 71
216 - Imdad Hussain 76 73 67
217 - Mohammad Akram 74 72 71
218 - Ghani Khan 76 72 70; Javed Inayat 75 72 71; Mohammad Tahir 70 73 75
219 - Taj Nabi 78 71 70; Matloob Ahmad 74 75 70; Mohammad Siddique 75 69 75; Shafiq Masih 70 72 77
220 - Mohammad Munir 75 73 72; Amjad Yousuf 73 69 78
221 - Abbas Ali 75 75 71; Nazir Khan 72 76 73; Ahmad Saeed 72 74 75; Ansar Mahmood 73 73 75
223 - Akhtar Ali 74 72 77
224 - Mohammad Tariq 78 75 71; Mohammad Akhtar 78 73 73.
225 - Ijaz Gul 77 77 71; Iqbal Bashir 76 72 77
226 - Mehmood Kiani 75 77 74; Abdul Jabbar 77 74 75.
In the amateur section, Vaqas Ahmad lead Taimur Hassan and Mohammad Ali Hai by four strokes. Vaqas shot an even in the third round to be nine-over 225 after three rounds.
Taimur, a one-stroke handicapper, shot 74 while Hai, a two-stroke handicapper, sunk in a blaze of bogeys when he carded seven-over 79 for 13-over 229 for the tournament.
Shahid Javed Khan was in sole possession of fourth place at 14-over par 230 after a round of even. Tariq Mahmood was another stroke behind after a round of two-over 74.
|
|
