KARACHI: Pakistan’s talented young golfer Omar Khalid Hussain made an impressive debut in the Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship at the Doha Golf Club finishing sixth in the prestigious event. Omar, who is the youngest ever National Amateur champion of Pakistan, carded two-over par 74 in the final round of the championship to take the sixth spot. This is the first time that Omar has taken part in the Qatar Open which featured 124 international players from all over the world. The three-day championship was played at the long and challenging Doha Golf Club which recently hosted the $2.5 million Qatar International Series Golf Championship. The event saw in action top international players including LIV Golf stars. The 7300-yard DCG course turned out to be quite a challenge primarily because of its length and extremely windy conditions. Omar, 18, a student of Karachi’s Nixor College had rounds of 76, 75 and 74 in the championship. “It was a very tough course and the greens were extremely fast,” said Omar, who has represented Pakistan at the World Team Championship in Paris and the Asia Pacific Amateur in Thailand. He is the only Pakistani golfer to have made the cut in the United States Golf Association (USGA) Championship.
Meanwhile, Joe Jones of Wales shot an incredible five-under-par 67 to win Qatar Open Championship by two strokes. Jones, who shot 73 and 75 in the first two rounds, made the most of the course’s improved conditions to finish with an overall score of 1 under 215. With his much-deserved victory, the golfer from Wales officially qualified for the prestigious Commercial Bank Qatar Masters 2023, which will be held from October 26 to 29. James Nash finished second after shooting a two-under-par 70 for a final score of 217, giving Wales a one-two finish. Reece Goodyear of England, who had been in first place after the first two rounds, shot 73 on a crucial day to place third with a total of 219, while Calum Fitzgerald of the DGC, who had a shaky start with a score of 77 on Thursday, shot another 72 on Saturday to place fourth with a score of 221.