DHA Golf Open : Iqbal pips Amin to title

Defeats youngster in second play-off to claim Rs1.8 million.

PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI:
Shabbir Iqbal clinched the All-Pakistan DHA Cup Gold Open Championship following a sudden-death play-off at the DHA Golf and Country Club in Karachi on Sunday.

After the final round ended in a three-way tie, with Iqbal, defending champion Mohammad Munir and Hamza Amin, all finishing with an aggregate score of seven-under-par 209, the game went into the deciding play-offs.

In the first play-off on the 18th hole, Munir fell one putt short, while Iqbal and Amin finished with the same score to enforce another play-off, this time at the 16th hole. The second play-off saw Iqbal use all his experience to finish one-under-par and pip Amin to the title and Rs1.8 million.

“This green is not that tough as it was in this championship; the wind made it tougher,” said Shabbir. “The wind on the second and the last day changed the results a lot and required a lot of concentration on our part. I’m glad I could win this championship.”

Amin, meanwhile, said that he gave his best effort but wasn’t as composed as Iqbal in the second play-off. “The pressure of the game made me miss the shot otherwise I could have won this championship,” Amin told The Express Tribune. “The play-off made the final day very interesting.”


In the hole-in-one event, 18-year-old Ahmed Baig of the Lahore Garrison Club won the Toyota Corolla Grande, while in the senior professional category, Mohammad Akram won with his two-under-par 70.

Usman Ali was the junior professional champion, while Mohammad Sharif and Humera Khalid won the amateurs and ladies events.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd,  2016.

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