Matloob Ahmed strolls to Rahid D. Habib Memorial Golf Championship Title
The defending champion sealed the title by a six-stroke margin after firing seven birdies in the final-round for an overall 12-under 276 score at Karachi Golf Course on Sunday.
The defending champion, Matloob Ahmad, easily secured the Rashid D. Habib Memorial Golf Championship crown with a brilliant 4th round at the Karachi Golf Course on Sunday.
Matloob fired seven birdies in a final-round for an overall 12-under 276 score to win the championship with a six stroke lead,
having started the day four shots clear.
His closest rivals Shabbir Iqbal (70) and Mohammad Munir (72) could not keep up with him.
Matloob maintained her four stroke lead after front 9 of final round.
He made his intentions clear with a birdie on the first hole to seize the early initiative. Shabbir and Munir had started the day in joint-second but the latter had to play catch-up after a bogey on the first.
The only time Matloob seemed he would give his opponents a chance was when he bogeyed on the sixth hole after his tee shot landed close to a tree. But he bounced back immediately with a birdie on the next hole.
There was another bogey for Matloob on the eighth but what favoured him was that Shabbir could not capatalise and matched him with a bogey.
It was a similar story on the ninth where both of them hit birdies but it was at that hole where the wheels came off Munir’s challenge. A bogey left him seven shots adrift of the leader.
Matloob’s lead at the top swelled to five shots with a birdie on the 12th and he sealed victory with a birdie on the par-5 14th, where Shabbir’s challenge came undone with a bogey.
With the title in sight, Matloob could afford to bogey the 15th. There was another bogey for him on the final hole but having hit a birdie on the 17th, there was no chance for last-gasp drama or intrigue.
Shabbir, who was the only golfer before Matloob to complete a successful title defence at the tournament, finished second with a 282, two shots ahead of Munir.
Mohammad Alam’s 71 saw him clinch fourth spot, a shot adrift of Munir and two ahead of fifth-placed Mohammad Ashfaq (71). Hamza Amin was sixth with 288 after firing a final-round 70.
A disappointing tournament came to an end for 2016 champion Waheed Baloch and young golf sensation Ahmed Baig as both finished a massive 20 shots adrift of the top after firing 72 and 76 respectively.
Elsewhere, Iftikhar Hussain clinched the senior professionals’ title with a two-round total of two-over 146 to finish three shots ahead of Tahir Nasim.
Mohammad Saqib claimed the young professionals’ crown with a three-over 147, ending four strokes ahead of runner-up Akash Bashir, while Mohammad Abid and Saleem Inayat won the KGC Professionals’ and Senior Professionals’ titles respectively.
