Sports
Shrestha opens two-stroke lead
Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha opened up a two-stroke lead over Dhana Bahadur Thapa in the first round of the Surya Nepal Western Open at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course here on Wednesday.Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha opened up a two-stroke lead over Dhana Bahadur Thapa in the first round of the Surya Nepal Western Open at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course here on Wednesday.
The Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Shrestha carded five-under 65 in the fourth event held under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16. Thapa shot three-under 67, while defending champion Bhuwan Nagarkoti returned with one-under par 69.
Sanjay Lama lies at fourth after carding one-over 71, while Jayaram Shrestha, Pashupati Sharma and Surya Prasad Sharma were tied for fifth at 3-over 73. Bhu Bahadur Gurung and Rame Magar were joint eighth at four-over 74. Another RNGC pro and Nepal No 2 Rabi Khadka and Ramesh Nagarkoti were tied for 10th at 75.
The top-ranked Shrestha shot three-under 35 on the front nine with birdies on the third, fifth and sixth holes. The RNGC pro dropped a shot on the 12th before sinking birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th holes to finish his back nine at two-under 33. Thapa shot even-par 35 on the front nine but improved on his back nine with three-under 32. Thapa carded birdies on the fourth and eighth holes against bogeys on the sixth and ninth. He also earned shots on the 11th, 15th and 17th holes. Nagarkoti shot one-over 36 on the first nine and two-under 33 on the back nine. He sank a birdie on the third, 10th, 14th and 15th holes but dropped shots on the fifth, ninth and 13th holes.
Shiva Kumar Majhi of Dharan stays on top in the amateur category with the score of five-over 75. Majhi carded four-over 39 on the front nine and one-over 36 on the back nine. One stroke adrift in second was Mandip KC. Jiwan Rai and Sonam Bhujel were tied for third at 77, while Sukra Bahadur Rai was fifth at 79.
In all, 41 golfers, 24 pros and 17 amateurs, are taking part in the event to be played over 54 holes. The cut will be applied after the second round with top 21 pros and top three amateurs making it to the final round. The prize money has been raised to Rs 540,750 with the champion winning Rs 100,000. The second and third-place golfers will earn Rs 63,000 and Rs 45,000.