ISLAMABAD, March 31: Mohammad Munir, the defending champion in the professional category shared the first round lead with two others on Friday as President of Pakistan Gold Medal Open Golf Championship opened at the Islamabad Club.

On a day that witnessed a keen tussle, Munir birdied five holes carding four under par 68 and stood tied with Shabbir Iqbal and Abdul Hamid.

There was a two-way tie for second place between Imdad Hussain and Mohammad Siddique who had rounds of three under par 69.

Interestingly the third place too saw a tie with Ansar Mahmood and Shahid Javed Khan at par, finishing on two under 70 each.

The three-day tournament being contested days after the Prime Minister Gold Medal Open Championship in Rawalpindi, offers Rs 400,000 in prize money for the professional and senior profes sional categories.

In the senior professionals competition, Manzoor Ahmed led the field with a score of 73 while two strokes behind was Shaukat Ali.

The third spot was shared by Mohammad Shafique, Bashir Ahmed and Ghani Rehman, who had identical rounds of 76.