Ramesh Adhikari opened up a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Surya Nepal Challenge here at the par-67 Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Thursday.

Adhikari shot a third straight one-under 66 for a three-round card of three-under 198. But lurking behind in second was Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha, who carded three-under 64 to bounce back into title contention in the second event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16 . The top Nepali pro had mediocre first two rounds, scoring 66 and 70. Second round joint-leader Deepak Thapa Magar dropped to third at even-par 201 after shooting two-over 69 today.

Bhuwan Nagarkoti was fourth at 202 and defending champion Rabi Khadka fifth, one stroke further behind at 203. Rame Magar matched the best card of the day with Shivaram, his three-under 64 taking him to sixth at 204. Jayaram Shrestha and Dhana Bahadur Thapa were tied for seventh at four-over 205.

Adhikari’s consistent round included one-over 34 in the front fine and two-under 32 in back nine. He started the day with five straight pars before dropping two shots in the next two holes. But he immediately sank a birdie to earn a shot in the eighth hole. On his way back, Adhikari sank birdies on the 10th, 11th and 13th holes against a lone bogey on the 16th.

Shivaram shot one-under 32 in the front nine that included just one birdie but improved his card by shooting two-under 32 in his back nine. He earned shots on the 10th, 12th and 13th but dropped a shot on the 16th hole. Thapa Magar carded two-over 35 in the first nine and even-par 34 in the next nine holes. Third-placed Deepak played two-over 35 on the front nine and carded even-par 34 on the latter half.

Tanka Bahadur Karki, the only amateur to survive the cut, carded five-over 72 for a total of nine-over 213. In all 21 professional golfers survived the cut after the second round. All the pros are assured of cash prizes with top three taking home Rs 70,000, Rs 44,000 and Rs 32,000 respectively.