KARACHI: Shabbir Iqbal is making no secret he has a fight on his hands again. He is confident though that by the end of it all he will make up the gap between him and the leaders.

“It’s about consistency,” the four-time defending champion told Dawn on Friday after the first round of the Sindh Open Golf Championship where he found himself four shots adrift.

“There are still two rounds to play and we’ve seen numerous times many golfers surge into the lead after the opening round but what’s important is to maintain it.”

Last year, Shabbir made up a three-shot deficit at the start of the final round to clinch the title. After managing a 72 after the first 18 holes, he is facing another battle. He remains unfazed though.

“Wind, what wind?” he asked when questioned about a windy first day’s play. “What I need to do it get my putting back together and regain the confidence and everything will be fine.”

Putting was an issue for many but on a day when gusts blew across the Arabian Sea Country Club, six golfers ended with a share of the lead. Among them was Shabbir’s long-time rival Mohammad Munir.

“The wind didn’t assist us at all,” Munir told Dawn. “Thankfully, though, I was well-prepared.”

Munir, however, is wary of calling his lead over Shabbir a decisive one. “In golf, anything can happen. A lead can slip away very quickly so I’ve got to do what I’m doing and hope for the best.”

Munir had a great start, sinking four birdies in the first seven holes. However, two bogeys and birdies after that meant he ended the day on 68, tied with Ansar Mehmood, Shahid Javed Khan, Mohammad Ashfaq, Mohammad Qasim and Mohammad Afzal.

Ansar was near imperious on the front nine, sinking five birdies, but couldn’t carry on in the same vein on the back nine. Matching Ansar on the front nine was Qasim while Shahid and Afzal were the only golfers amongst the leaders to hit eagles.

Matloob Ahmed, another of the leading contenders, ended the day on 69 alongside Tahir Naseem. An eagle on the fifth hole was the highlight of the day for him.

“The greens aren’t in good conditions so the putting was difficult,” Matloob told Dawn. “But overall I’m happy with the performance and let’s see what happens over the next two rounds.”

Behind Matloob and Tahir are a trio of golfers on 70 -- Atriq-ur-Rehman, Latif Rafique and Mohammad Nazir -- while Hashmat Khan, Mohammad Tariq, Waheed Baloch and Ahmed Saeed are all a stroke further adrift.

Shabbir is one of the nine golfers tied on 72. Yet it’s a familiar position for him and it doesn’t worry him. Rather it’s the ones in front who are looking cautiously over their shoulders at the long-hitting Pakistan number one.

Friday also saw the two-day junior professionals tournament tee off with Kashif Masih grabbing the lead after shooting a first-round 70. Syed Bilal Hussain is two strokes adrift while Eman Masih is third after he ended with 76.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2018