Daily Times

LAHORE: The PGF Match Play Golf Championship 2020 came to a conclusion after five days of difficult and arduous golf for the top ranked professionals and skillful amateurs at the notable Royal Palm Club Golf Course here on Sunday. This was an event of national standing contested in the first two rounds on stroke play basis and then the top 16 performers in the professional category and the top 16 in amateur category faced each other in match play contests which led to eliminations and produced two unbeaten ones in the professional section and two in the amateur section. These unbeaten and elated ones were professionals Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad) and Mohammad Munir (Rawalpindi Golf Club). And in the amateur race, they were Qasim Ali Khan (Gymkhana) and Salman Jahangir, also from Gymkhana, and they faced each other in a 36 holes encounter yesterday.

The final head to head match play contest between Shabbir and Munir produced considerable interest and though expectations were that it will be hotly contested, somehow the dominant tilt remained in favour of Shabbir throughout the 32 holes. The star of the day remained the pride of Pakistan golf, Shabbir. Once again Shabbir proved and brought to the fore his all round capabilities. Virtually flawless in his approach, Shabbir remained a likely winner as the battle of champions progressed. Through excellent hitting, crisp and accurate fairway shots and smooth and effective putting, he kept the pressure on and ended victorious. The qinning professional got cash prize of Rs.400,000 and the runner up pocketed Rs.200,000. The best amateur in this match play battle turned out to be Qasim Ali Khan of Lahore Gymkhana. His final match against Salman Jehangir did not go the full stretch of 36 holes as Salman developed blisters and conceded the final to Qasim after 18 holes.