LAHORE, Oct 2: Muhammad Munir of Islamabad retained his title in the 26th Punjab Open golf championship when he ended the third and final round with an aggregate of 203, just one stroke ahead of Muhammad Siddique at Lahore Gymkhana on Sunday.

Siddique, a seasoned golfer who has failed to earn a major title for a long time, fought desperately but again failed.

He trailed at three strokes when the day started and posted a card of 66, and recovered the deficit by the end of first nine holes.

Matching stroke for stroke the two entered the 18th hole par-4 with identical scores of 200 each as the contest drew near a climax.

Both were on the green with two strokes.

Near the end, Munir put the ball into the hole from 10 feet to earn a birdie. But Siddique completed it at par to lose the game by one stroke.

Munir received a trophy and a cash prize of Rs82,000. M Siddique clinched the second with 204, while Irfan Mehmood of Rawalpindi was third with three day aggregate of 211.

Abbas Ali came fourth (212) and Imdad Hussain fifth (214).

Among the amateurs Imran Ahmad emerged the best gross player with an aggregate of 222. Tariq ended up second and Shoaib Bokhari third.

Winner of amateur net is a youngster Wazir Ali, while runner-up is Ejaz Qureshi.

Jamila Jabbar won the gross event with two-day score of 167. Shahzadi Gulfam and former national title holder won second position.

Mehak Khan won the amateur net while Durdana Soomro came second.