KARACHI: Hamza Amin teed off with a birdie on a bright, sunny Thursday morning at the Karachi Golf Club.

It was a promising sign, but in a scrappy front nine performance, only another birdie on the eighth saw him stay on par after the first nine holes.

Then, came the turnaround. On the 11th hole, Hamza fired an eagle and it spurred him to a two-shot advantage atop the leaderboard at the end of the first round of the Rashid D. Habib Professional Golf Tournament.

“That eagle got the momentum flowing,” Hamza told Dawn after his round.

Hamza’s five-under 67 means he’s ahead of a group of six golfers on 69 which includes Mohammad Munir, Waheed Baloch, Mohammad Afzal, Syed Raza Ali Rizvi, Ashiq Hussain and Taimoor Khan.

Another pack of six golfers are a shot further adrift comprising two-time defending champion Matloob Ahmed, rising star Ahmed Baig, Mohammad Ashfaq, Jafal Hussain, Arif Ali and Arshad Rasheed.

A group of eight golfers at 71 includes Pakistan number one Shabbir Iqbal with as many as 25 golfers managing a par score or below on Thursday.

“The course played excellently today,” Matloob told Dawn, adding that if his putting was better he’d have had a better score.

Ahmed, who had two bogeys in the first six holes, blamed his driving for not making good use of the conditions. “The course conditions are great but unfortunately my driver wasn’t working today,” he told Dawn.

Munir though had no regrets from his performance. “It was a good day for me overall … I’m happy with the way things are going at the moment,” he told Dawn.

For the three of them, the biggest takeaways from the first day are that there are still three rounds to be played. Even Hamza, who is yet to win a title in Karachi, isn’t taking anything for granted.

“There’s lots of golf still to be played but I’m happy with my start,” he said. “I will be looking to improve as the days progress.”

The hole that made Hamza’s start a happy one is the second hole on the red course at the KGC — a par-5 with slight dogleg right. Hamza’s tee shot meant he had a perfect yardage for the 3-iron, and he only needed to avoid the bunkers on the side of the green. He landed seven feet away from the hole before burying the putt.

It gave Hamza the boost he needed as he reeled off birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th holes to claim top spot.

In the group immediately behind Hamza, Ashiq and Raza also hit eagles in their opening rounds.

Ashiq’s eagle came on his 10th hole — the par-4 first hole on the blue course — while he fired two birdies as well.

Raza’s eagle was on the same hole as Hamza’s, the only difference being that it was his second hole. He also hit four birdies.

Munir made a flying start, firing birdies in each of his first three holes and got two more on the 10th and 14th holes with a double bogey on the par-4 15th being the only blot on his card.

Afzal and Taimoor fired five birdies each while Waheed had four.

Matloob also got an eagle on Thursday, on his 11th hole —the par-5 second hole on the blue course — but it didn’t change the course of the round for him like it did for Hamza.

The holder, though, still has three days to make it three in a row.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2021