Alam grabs narrow lead in CAS Open front round.

KARACHI -- When Mohammad Alam bogeyed the third and fourth holes here at the Airmen Golf Course on Thursday, chances of him topping the leaderboard at the end of the opening round of the CAS Open seemed pretty slim.

But then came a remarkable turnaround. On a windy day, Alam hit back with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. Four more birdies followed on the back nine, including one on the final hole as Alam finished on four-under 68 and a one-shot lead after the first 18 holes in the Rs11million championships.

Alam's closest challengers are defending champion Shabbir Iqbal and Mohammad Naeem, who were tied on 69. Shabbir shot...