JA Zaman Championship: Impressive Iqbal clinches title

Golfer finishes with 13-under-par 203, five ahead of second-placed Hussain.

KARACHI: Mohammad Shabbir Iqbal of Islamabad Golf Club (IGC) remained unchallenged during the final round of the 3rd JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship to clinch the title and Rs1.2 million at the historic Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course in Lahore on Sunday.

Iqbal began the last round with a three-stroke lead and struck a four-under-par 68 in the final round to finish with an aggregate total of 13-under-par 203, leaving his rival Talib Hussain five strokes behind.



“I had an exciting three rounds and enjoyed being in the lead on all three days to win the title,” Shabbir told The Express Tribune. “I had a perfect first round start and ended the last round even better. This shows that I am back into the game to win the titles again.”



Defending champion Matloob Ahmed and Latif Rafiq came third with a score of seven-under-par 209, followed by Shafiq Masih and Ashar Masih on fourth with four-under-par 212.

Meanwhile, Imdad Hussain won the seniors professionals title with a gross round of six-under-par 66, followed by Mohammad Akram with a score of one-over-par 73. As for the junior professionals’ category, Akash Masih came first and Usman Ali finished second.

In the amateurs’ category, Robin Bagh won with an aggregate score of seven-over-par 223, followed by Fakhar Imam of Defence  Raya Golf Club with a similar score of 223, however, the first prize tilted in favour of Bagh because he had a better score over the last 36 holes.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th,  2016.

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