KARACHI: It was Ahmed Baig once again, having done it all over again, holding aloft the trophy at the end of the Rashid D. Habib Memorial Golf Cham­pionship here at the Karachi Golf Course on Sunday.

Five shots off the lead at the end of the opening round, the defending champion won by the same margin the end as he capped his triumph with a superb four-under 68 in the final round.

That saw Ahmed finish at 12-under 276 with a pack of four that included Mohammad Zubair (67) Shabbir Iqbal (68), Mohammad Ashfaq (68) and Hamza Amin (69) ending with 281. Waheed Baloch (72), who entered the final round two shots off the lead, finished at 282.

Ahmed had set himself up for the title with a near-flawless 67 on Saturday’s and although he was more measured in the final round — getting just one birdie on the front nine — he found his range by the end.

After two bogeys to start the back nine, he sank five birdies over the next six holes, including four in a row from the 14th in a stunning finish that extinguished the hopes of the rest of the field.

Zubair, who had started six off the lead, fired six birdies, while Shabbir, five off the pace, got five. It wasn’t enough to prevent Ahmed from retaining his crown.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2026