At the conclusion of the 2nd round in the four rounds Defence Raya Open Golf Championship 2021 being contested by the 100 leading golf professionals of Pakistan, the number one ranked golf professional of the country, Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal reigned supreme. He showed his exceptional, unrivalled and phenomenal array of hitting off the tees, masterly shot making from the immaculate fairways of Defence Raya Golf Course and supplemented by proficient putting on the fast paced greens.
All through the second round, Shabbir Iqbal sparkled on each of the 18 holes of this flawless golf course and this unassailable golf player reflects masterly aptitude, capability and brilliance whenever he competes. And based on these attributes his card of the second day was simply fascinating and from the statistical angle he gathered birdies on the second hole, four consecutive birdies on holes 14, 15, 16 and 17 plus regulation pars on the remaining 13 holes. Having seen him on the golf course in the course of the second round on Saturday, it would be appropriate to categorize him as a golfing magician who is impregnable in the golf arenas of Pakistan.
Going into the third round of this four rounds grand championship, the golf player seeking to match the might of Shabbir Iqbal is Aadil Jehangir of PAF Skyview who is placed at a two rounds aggregate score of 143 with a round of 71 on the first day and gross 72 on Saturday. Aadil may be trailing the champion by a margin of six strokes, yet hopes to come up with a spell of resplendent golfing action in the third round on Sunday. This young man from a golf playing family which is lucky to have a golf playing father and two golf playing brothers who have played national level golf seeks more recognition through a finesse oriented performance in this championship. Undoubtedly. the task is huge but resoluteness is oozing out of Aadil Jehangir.
A few other professionals in line for honours and good prize money are Anser Mehmood (Margalla Greens), M. Waqas (Islamabad) and M. Tariq also of Islamabad. They are bunched together at an applaudable aggregate two rounds score of 145. At a score of 146 is placed Talat Ijaz (Gymkhana) and the second ranked player of the professional golf circuit, Matloob Ahmed (Garrison). M. Shahzad of Garrison is at 147 and also at this score is M. Rehman (Royal Palm) and Ashiq Hussain (Multan).
The cut was made after the second round and only 50 position holders will continue to be a part of the remaining two rounds of this Defence Raya Golf Championship. This was stated by Haroon Shafiq of Defence Raya who is supervising the Championship.
The Senior Professionals Event came to a conclusion after two rounds. And the winner is Nisar Hussain of PAF Islamabad with two rounds scores of 73 and 74 and aggregate of 147. Javed Inayat stands second and his aggregate score is 148, certainly a praise worthy effort. Irfan Mehmood (Rawalpindi), another competent senior ends up third, with 149 score.
