KARACHI: When Shabbir Iqbal won the CAS Open a little less than 12 months ago, Pakistan’s top golfer set his sights on lifting his 200th professional title by the end of the year. Two weeks into this year, he’s reached that goal with a successful defence of his CAS Open title.

Six shots clear of the chasing pack heading into Sunday’s final round, Shabbir would eventually prevail by seven strokes after his one-under 71 saw him finish at 10-under 278. Having carded 69 in each of the first three rounds, Shabbir had done the hard work before the climax. Here, he would fire four birdies and even though he had a double bogey on the par-4 12th hole, it didn’t matter.

Mohammad Alam, the leader in the opening round — the only time at the championship when someone other than Shabbir occupied top spot in the leaderboard, was a distant second at 285 after a final round of 72. He was the only other golfer who broke par at the Rs11million event at the Airmen Golf Course, where strong winds blew many off course.

Hamza Amin (72) and Mohammad Zubair (73) ended on 288, one ahead of a group of four comprising Shahid Javed Khan, who fired the day’s best of 69 featuring five birdies, Mohammad Munir (70), 2020 champion Ahmed Baig (72) and Mohammad Amir (72).

Another former champion Matloob Ahmed (74), the 2018 winner, was among four golfers who finished on 291. The others were Mohammad Naeem (71), Mohammad Nazir (73) and Mohammad Shahzad (75).

The day belonged to Shabbir though. Having successfully defended his CNS Open title on the first day of 2023, Shabbir had moved on to 199 titles and it seemed a matter of a week before he would reach the 200 mark. But despite being a two-time defending champion at the Sindh Open, he would relinquish that title exactly a week ago when he fell short by one stroke. Shabbir, though, made sure he wouldn’t be denied at the CAS Open.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2023