Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha opened up a three-stroke lead over Surya Prasad Sharma in the opening round of the Surya Nepal Central Open at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Monday.

Shrestha carded flawless six-under 66 in the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2017-18. Sharma shot three-under 69, while veteran golfer Deepak Magar ended the in third at one-under 71. Yelamber Singh Adhikari and Rame Magar are joint fourth after carding an identical even-par 72. Rabi Khadka finished at one-over 73 to stay in sixth position. Deepak Acharya, Bhuwan Nagarkoti, PAshupati Sharma, Jayaram Shrestha, Shivaram Poudel and amateur Sunil KC are tied for seventh at two-over 74.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Shrestha shot five-under 31 on the front nine with birdies on second, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth holes. On his way back, Shrestha shot a solitary birdie on the 10th hole while parring rest of the other eight holes to end at one-under 35.

Sharma started with back-to-back bogeys on the first two holes but made a great recovery with birdies on fifth and sixth holes for even-par 36. On the back nine holes, Sharma carded three-under 33 with birdies on 11th, 12th and 15th. Magar shot even-par 36 on the front nine with a bogey on the first and birdie on the eighth hole. On his way back, Magar shot one-under 35 with birdies on 12th and 17th holes against a bogey on the 14th.

On amateur side, Phuntsok Lama carded five-over 77 to stay three shots behind leader KC. Bipin Tamang was next at six-over 78.

In all, 32 professional and 10 amateurs golfers are taking part in the four-day tournament. The tournament offers a total prize money of Rs 630,000. The eventual champion will earn Rs 115,000 with the second-placed golfer will get Rs 74,000 and the third-placed Rs 53,000. Other pros making the cut, appllied after the second round, will also get their share of cash prizes.