Shivaram Shrestha clinched the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play with victory over Bhuwan Nagarkoti in the final at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Thursday.

Nepal No pro Shrestha beat No 3 Nagarkoti of Gokarna Club 2&1 for the fourth title of the season and 40th overall. With win in the fifth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2017-18 , the RNGC golfer earned Rs 70,000. Nagarkoti received Rs 40,000 in the tournament that offered Rs 250,000 in prize money.

Shrestha was 2-up after the completion of the first nine holes and maintained the lead at the end of 18 holes. He extended the lead to 3-up after 27 holes and completed the victory with one hole remaining. Shrestha had a four-hole lead after 26 holes before Nagarkoti won the next four holes to level the scores. The next three holes were halved before Shrestha won the 34th and 35th holes to complete the victory.

No 5 Surya Prasad Sharma defeated No 7 Rame Magar 1-up in the third place match. Sharma earned Rs 28,000 and Magar received Rs 22,000. Losing quarter-finalists Rabi Khadka—the defending champion—, Sanjay Lama, Yelamber Singh Adhikari and Jayaram Shrestha received Rs 11,000 each. Eight other first round losers Deepak Thapa, Ram Krishna Shrestha, Pashupati Sharma, Pradeep Kumar Lama, Bikash Adhikari, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Dhana Bahadur Thapa and Bal Bhadra Rai got Rs 6,000 each.

Top 16 pros in the Order of Merit the previous season took part in the three-day event organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. Golf enthusiast SK Vijay Awale presented Rs 10,000 to Shrestha for his hole-in-one effort on the 14th during the semi-finals on Wednesday.