DHA Golf Championship: Unheralded Imran grabs opening day honour

Seasoned campaigners struggle in first round.

KARACHI:

Leading contenders struggled on the opening day of DHA Bank-AlBaraka Cup Golf Championship that exploded into action on Friday at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club in Karachi.

Local golfer Imran Ali Khan took advantage of familiar conditions to lead on the first day.

The relatively unknown golfer fired seven birdies and a bogey to attain a card of six-under-par 66, finishing the day on top position.

Pakistan’s number one Shabbir Iqbal, who recently won the Chief of Air Staff title, had a miserable start as he finished on 19th position. His opening round was twice marred by water hazards as he had to contend with a score of two-over-par 74 in the first round.

Another seasoned golfer Mohammad Munir faced similar problems, but finished slightly better than Shabbir to end with a score of 72.

However, Imran will have to maintain his momentum to win the title as he is being closely followed Matloob Ahmed. The Lahore-based golfer showcased good skills for a four-under-par 68 to finish on joint second along with Latif Ahmed.

Akbar Mehroz finished the day in third place with a card of three-under-par 69. Mohammad Sajjad and Naseer Khan are tied in fourth position with identical scores of two-under-par 70.

Meanwhile, Waheed Baloch, Mohammad Khursheed, Mohammad Tariq and Mohammad Amir also made their presence felt, finishing on joint fifth position after scoring one-under-par 71.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2014.

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