LAHORE: The big names of professional sector in Pakistan played captivating and enthralling golf during the first round of the esteemed 8th JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship at the sublime Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course here on Friday. With the day remaining bright and beaming and no haze or smog and splendid playing conditions, a young upcoming professional player of Karachi Golf Club managed to command the flow of competitive play by ending the day at a spectacular aggregate score of six under par. This phenomenal one just a week back was the runner-up in CJSC Championship in Karachi and he showed exceptional form again yesterday.
Zubair played like a foremost and acclaimed golfer and hit his tee shots on all the par four and par fives to perfection. And while he attained a distance of 280 yards plus through every hit, the fairways approach shots were equally on target and enabled him to surface as the leader. His birdies on holes 5,7,8,10,11 and 18 were the result of masterly play and most sparkling was his putting on the fast paced greens where many other competent professionals got cold feet and lost strokes that pushed their positions a little low on the leader board. Two other capable ones, Moazzan Siddique of DHA Karachi and defending champion Matloob Ahmed, accumulated a sterling score of four under par and were placed two strokes behind Zubair. Also looking agreeably placed were three notable professionals ––– Muhammad Munir of Rawalpindi, Muhammad Naeem of Peshawar and flamboyant Ahmed Baig of PAF Skyview. They aggregated a noteworthy score of three under par and were bunched together at this majestic score.
Competition wise a few others were oozing with a resolve for accomplishment and though they were a few strokes behind the leader, their sense of purposefulness was manifest from the way they were playing. And in this category were three champions ––– steadfast Muhammad Nazir of Rawalpindi, dynamic Hamza Amin of Islamabad and experienced Shahid Javed Khan of Lahore Gymkhana. They were together at a score of two under par. At one under par were Suleman Akhter of Gymkhana and number one ranked player of Pakistan Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal.