Shabbir retains Open title as Taimur takes honours in amateurs

Shabbir Iqbal lifts the trophy after winning the Sindh Open Golf Championship at the Arabian Sea Country Club on Sunday.

KARACHI: Defending champion and overnight leader Shabbir Iqbal avenged his 20th CNS Open defeat when he beat challenger Mohammad Munir by three shots to retain the pros title in the 17th Sindh Open golf championship at Arabian Sea Country Club on Sunday.

Shabbir, who dislodged Munir at the top after second round in the 54-hole event, carded three under 69 in the third round to finish with an aggregate of 13 under par 203. His first two rounds scores were 66 and 68.

After carding a superb 64, eight under in the first round, Munir had successive rounds of one under 71 to finish at 206, 10 under.

Munir, who won the preceding CNS Open crown for the third time by five strokes, faltered by scoring back-to-back bogeys on the last two holes. Earlier, he squandered an opportunity to draw level at the 14th hole.

Meanwhile, despite playing four over 76 in the third round, the amateur’s title ended in a blaze of glory for Peshawar’s Taimur Khan who won by two shots. His three-day aggregate were 221, five over par.

Taimur, who fired two under 70 in the first round, had emerged opening day’s leader but posted three over 75 in the second round to slip on the leader board.

M. Naeem, also of Peshawar, finished runner-up at 223, seven over. He shot two over 74 on Sunday.

Overnight leader and holder Ghazanfar Mehmood was tied in third place with Salman Jahangir at 225, nine over. The former was off colour and scored 11 over 83 after back-to-back rounds of 71 while the latter shot two over 74.

Veteran Imdad Hussain landed the senior pros title by five strokes posting a three-day card of three under 213. Hasan Akbar finished runner up five shots away at 218, two over.

Shabbir received a winning purse of Rs363,138 from the chief guest, Sindh Golf Association (SGA) president, Asad I. A. Khan at a ceremony.

Imdad fetched runner-up purse of Rs244,150. Cash prizes worth Rs2.5 million were disbursed among pros and senior pros.

Also present on the occasion were SGA secretary Ashraf Khan Ghori, Capt ASCC Arshad I. A. Khan and Lt Cdr Irfan Rashid.

Top finishers:

Pros:

203 — Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad) 66, 68, 69

206 — Mohammad Munir (Islamabad) 64, 71, 71

209 — Matloob Ahmed (LGC) 66, 73, 70

211 — Ansar Mehmood (Islamabad) 71, 71, 69

213 — Ahmed Saeed (KGC) 70, 73, 70

214 — Hamza Amin (Islamabad) 70, 70, 74

Senior pros:

213 — Imdad Hussain (LGGC) 68, 71, 74

218 — Hasan Akbar (Peshawar) 72, 74, 72

220 — Mohammad Iqbal (Gymkhana) 72, 74, 74; Akbar Ali (Gymkhana) 72, 75, 73; Mohammad Ilyas (Gymkhana) 74, 73, 73; M. Hussain Kayani (Islamabad) 75, 74, 71.

Amateurs:

221 — Taimur Khan (Peshawar) 70, 75, 76

223 — M. Naeem (PGC) 71, 78, 74

225 — Salman Jahangir (Gymkhana) 74, 77, 74; Ghazanfar Mehmood (GCG) 71, 71, 83

227 — Zohaib Asif (DHA) 72, 76, 79

229 — Tariq Mehmood (MGG) 77, 75, 77; Ashiq Hussain (MGC) 72, 76, 81

Juniors:

Winner Gross: Junaid Irfan (KGC)

Runner-up Gross: Luca Guidi (KGC)

Winner Net: Saad Imtiaz (DHA)

Runner-up Net: Hamza Siddiqui (SGA)

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2015