58th National Amateur Golf: Abdul Zahoor Emerges As Leader
After the weeding out process was completed at the end of first two rounds, a total of 50 accomplished golfers stood as contenders and eligible to compete in the final laps of honour in the Pakistan Golf Federation endorsed 58th National Amateur Golf Championship, which has entered the final phase at the Garrison Golf Course.
At the end of the third day in this four rounds championship, Abdul Zahoor of Multan played a round of gross 70 to end up at an aggregate score of 216 (level par) and thereby emerged as the leader, with the final 18 holes left to go. Zahoor was virtually faultless yesterday and all through the third round of 18 holes he displayed praiseworthy control over his golf swing and also over his temperament. At no stage was he awed by the presence of many combatants who were striving for superiority. And these combatants were many. The predominant one was his own city mate from Multan, Zulfiqar Ali.
A leader at the end of first two rounds, Zulfiqar remained phenomenal in his application of golfing skills and played each hole on merit. This effort fetched him a par round score of gross 72 on the third day and his aggregate score for the three days adds up to 217 and he appears as a robust challenger. Also applause-able was the performance of Wazir Ali of Lahore Gymkhana who definitely performed to perfection with a round of gross 68 and at the end of the round on Saturday, he is placed at an aggregate of 218, two strokes behind the leader and looking tenacious and forceful.
While these three are the more proficient ones, moving into the final phase, there are quite a few who also displayed steady play and are in a position to challenge the leaders on Sunday. Zohaib Asif of DHA, Karachi is one and Salman Akhter (Gymkhana) and Taimoor Khan (Peshawar) two others. Zohaib is at a score of 220, while Salman and Taimur are at 221. Others in line are Ghazanfar Mehmood (GGC) at 221, Raja Israr (Garrison) at 222, Umer Khokhar (GGC) at 223, Robin Bagh (Gymkhana) at 224, Ashiq Hussain (Multan) at 224 and Mohsen Zafar (Gymkhana) at same score.
The battle is on and the competition is expected to be sharp edged indeed.
The Seniors completed their final round yesterday. Col. Rustam Chatta is first ,followed by Lt. Col. Waqar Ahmed and M. Shafi. Col. Asif Mehdi is fourth, Javed A Khan, fifth and Fakhar Imam, sixth.
In the ladies section the leader is Rimsha Ijaz of Defence Raya. Her scores for two rounds are 76 and 76. Hamana Amjad of PAF lies in second position with scores of 81 and 76. Parkah Ijaz (Defence Raya) is bracketed with Hamana with scores of 76 and 81.
6th April will be the final day of the 58th National Amateur Golf Championship.
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