At the conclusion of the 2nd round in this three rounds Millat Tractors sponsored 29th Governors Cup Golf Tournament, the top contenders for the title continue to show consistency and appreciable application of golfing skills, and three of them are bracketed together as frontrunners at an aggregate score of net 138,six under par.
Gen Sabahat of Rawalpindi, who appears to be spending a lot of quality time on the golf course is one, Farooq Khan of Gymkhana, an upcoming young one is another and the third one is Tariq Mehmood of Garrison, looking solid and accomplished.
As for the other two overnight leaders Saleem Raza (Gujranwala) and M. Rehman (Royal Palm), Saleem got toppled because of average play and with two days net scores of 68 and 75 now lies at the 13th position going into the final stage of this championship, while M. Rehman was amply consistent and though he slipped slightly, he is placed two strokes behind the leaders with two rounds net scores of 68 and 72 and an aggregate of net 140,four under par.
For the leaders the going is certainly looking frightful as other competitors do not lag too far behind and at least nine of them are in a position to go for a courageous thrust that could upset those in the front. Of these nine three are placed at a net score of 141 and include Khalid Mehmood (Rawalpindi), Omer Khawaja (Sialkot) and Ahsan Zubair (Gymkhana)and six others lie at net 142. These six are Sardar Murad Khan, Raza Ali Khan, Khurshid Aziz, Dr Dildar Hussain and Taimur Shabbir of Gymkhana and Ayaz Saleem (Garrison).
Some more contenders who played well enough to deserve a mention here are Ghazanfar Mehmood, Jamal Nasir, Danish Javed Khan, Omer Zia, and Zeeshan Zulfiqar Rana. They have a two days aggregate score of net 143.Whether they can prove a threat in the final go is a matter of conjecture and if some mystical excellence takes place it will add to the overall excitement that many golfers look for.
In command in the gross section is Ghazanfar Mehmood of Rawalpindi with two rounds gross scores of 71 and 72 and a total gross of 143..Following him is M. Rehman of Royal Palm at a two days total of gross 144 and it appears they are the strong candidates for the first position in gross event. Six strokes behind are Sardar Murad Khan, Imran Ahmad and Salman Jehangir. Amongst the other participants Murad A Khan had a good round of gross 75 on the second day.
The ladies event will conclude on Sunday. The final round on Sunday is expected to produce fireworks in this Millat backed championship. At the conclusion of the championship, the prize distribution will be held at 4pm at the Lahore Gymkhana Golf Club Lawns. The Chief Guest is Acting Governor Punjab, Iqbql Ahmed Khan.
