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| 25 April 2005 | Monday | 15 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
Shabbir retains lead
PESHAWAR, April 24: Navy’s Shabbir Iqbal maintained five-stroke lead on the second day of the 36-hole 15th Bank Al-Falah Frontier Open golf championship at PAF Golf Course on Sunday. The second day brought bad luck to the golfers who had played excellently on the first day as most of them saw their drives landing on sandy bunkers, had wrong chips and were short on sure birdie put.
Shabbir said that it was difficult to place pin, but the golfers carded over par due to lack of concentration. “I had some difficulty in concentrating while I had lead in mind. And there was a cut at 30 which sent most of the top golfers out of the event,” he said.
Shabbir played par round of 72, with 37 at front and 35 at back nine by scoring only two birdies and missed three strokes. On the first day, he had 11 birdies.
Overall, he carded 133, followed by Shahid Javed (137). Shahid was the only golfer who recorded 68, four under par. He carded 35 at front nine and 33 at back nine and made birdies at 1, 3, 6, 11, 12, 13, and 17 with bogey at 2, 7 and 10.
Muhammad Nazir of Islamabad Golf Club trailed at third with 138, six under par. He added 71 to his overnight score of 67 as he carded 36, par, and 35, one under, at back nine with four birdies. He made double bogey at hole 2 as his second shot landed into the bushes along with a bogey on the 11th.
Ansar Mehmood also made his way to the top with 71, one under despite bogey on hole 11. He made two birdies at 6 and 12 with 35 at front nine and 36 at back nine.
Ansar was closely followed by Shafiq Masih (141), Abbas Ali (142), Muhammad Ilyas (143) and Muhammad Akram (143).
Muhammad Safdar with his gross score of 149 was the leader in amateur category, followed by Pakistan team player Tariq Mehmood at second place with 150 and another promising player Adil Jehangir trailing at third with 151.
Ahmed, an eight handicapper, led the amateur net followed by Sadiq-ur-Rehman (143) at second and Arbab Usman (143) at third.
The championship carries Rs350,000 prize money for the professionals and a car for hole-in-one besides trophies for amateur, boys under-14 and U-17 and ladies and a golfing set and a bag for hole-in-one.—APP
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