January 20, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 19, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

KARACHI, Jan 19: Playing true to his potential, Pakistan’s Imdad Hussain was among the six who finished as joint leaders with four-under par 68 at the end of first round in the 72-hole US$200,000 Asian Tour Pakistan Open which teed-off at the Karachi Golf Club on Thursday.

Ashok Kumar, Jeev Milkha Singh and Amandeep Singh (India), Pat Giles (Australia) and Mark Mouland (Wales) were the co-leaders.

Despite windy conditions which persisted for almost the whole day, top Pakistani golfers gave matching performance of that of foreigners and proved that if provided international exposure, they could do wonders globally.

Among the other notable home golfers who caught the eye on the opening day were Shahid Javed Khan, Matloob Ahmed, Muhammad Munir and Shabbir Iqbal. They were only two strokes behind the day one leaders.

Imdad, the three times former Pakistan Open champion who finished runners up in the last edition, played first round exceedingly well. He hit the ball with accuracy and excelled on the greens. He fired seven birdies on hole-2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 18. He double bogeyed once on hole-11 which was preceded by losing a stroke on hole-5.

The Indians Ashok and Jeev played a bogey-less first round while Amandeep had one bogey on hole-5. Jeev is the son of former Indian Olympic athlete, Milkha Singh.

Australian Pat Giles fired five birdies on hole-2, 3, 6, 10 and 18 and a bogey on five to emerge as a surprise day one co-leader.

However, Giles fellow countryman Marcus Both, ranked ninth in Asia lacked his touch finishing with a score of two-under par 70. He fired six birdies on hole-1, 4, 8, 13, 14 and 15. He double bogeyed once on hole-7 and two single bogies on hole-three and five.

According to pundits, he is capable of staging a comeback in the coming days.

Some players who disappointed on the day were Angelo Que (Philippines), Gaurav Ghei and Hermeet Kahlon (India), M. Siddiq (Pakistan) and Mardan Mamat (Singapore).

With the exception of two golfers Uttam Singh (India) and Chris Gill (Eng) 142 golfers teed-off in the first round. According to organisers, the former could not report due to sickness, while the latter failed to reach due to flight problems.

The number of players would be curtailed to 65 at the conclusion of second round on Friday.

The second round tees-off Friday at 7.20 am.

Agencies add: “I was not discouraged by the double bogey and kept my pace. I am not surprised to be amongst the leaders as I played well today. After I turned in two under, I knew I could be among the leaders”, said Imdad.

“I did not set any targets coming into this tournament, so sharing the lead is definitely a good result,” said Jeev Milkha Singh, who enjoyed a blemish-free round with birdies on the 14th, 17th and the first holes before dropping a 20-foot putt for birdie on the ninth hole.

It was a similar story for Kumar, bidding for his first Asian Tour title, as he got off to a wonderful start. He birdied the 11th, 16th, 17th and third holes and was bogey-free for the day.

“I am determined to continue my strong start as I am eager to win this tournament. My best finish on Tour is tied third in the Myanmar Open (last year) and I hope to better that result here,” said the 22-year-old.

Giles birdied the second and third holes prior to his only bogey on the fifth hole. He then birdied the sixth and snared a massive 25-foot putt for a birdie on the 10th. The Australian closed with a birdie on the 18th hole.

Leading first round scorers:

68- Ashok Kumar (Ind), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Amandeep Johl (Ind), Pat Giles (Aus), Imdad Hussain (Pak), Mark Mouland (Wal).

69-Akinori Tani (Jap), Arjun Singh (Ind), Amritinder Singh (Ind), Chris Rodgers (Eng), Olle Nordberg (Swe).

70- Shahid Javed Khan (Pak), Marcus Both (Aus), Matloob Ahmed (Pak), S.S.P.Chowrasia (Ind), Lee Rhind (Sco), Barry Hume (Sco), Muhammad Munir (Pak), Jeremy Kavanagh (Eng), Shabbir Iqbal (Pak), David Hutton (Eng), M. Murugiah (Sin), Javed Inayat (Pak).