Bhuwan Kumar Rokka opened up a narrow one-stroke lead over amateur golfer Subash Tamang in the second round of the Surya Nepal Challenge at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Wednesday.

Rokka carded three-under 65 for a total of four-under 132 to break free from the congested leaderboard that saw four-way tie on top in the first round on Tuesday. Amateur golfer Tamang, who was one stroke behind the joint leaders at the end of the first round, stood alone in second a stroke adrift of Rokka  after carding two-under 66 in the second round.

Two strokes further back at one-under 135 was Deepak Magar, who shot even-par 68. Six pros—Jayaram  Shrestha, Surya Prasad Sharma, Rame Magar, Pradeep Kumar Lama and Rabi Khadka-were tied for third with amateur Binod Tamang, who shared the first round lead, at even-par 136. Jayaram shot two-over 70, Surya Prasad carded even-par 68, Rame Magar shot one over-69, Pradeep signed off with even-par 68, Rabi shot a 68 and Binod carded two-over 70 in the second round.

Overnight leader Sanjay Lama dropped down to three-way tie for eight along with Bikash Adhikari and Dinesh Prajapati at one-over 137. Lama carded three-over 71, Adhikari returned with joint best card of the day at three-under 65 while Prajapati shot one-over 69.

Ram Krishna Shrestha and Bhuwan Nagarkoti were tied for 11th with amateur Bipin Tamang at two-over 138. Shrestha carded 72, Nagarkoti shot 71 and Tamang carded even-par 68.

Other pros to make the cut for the money-making final two rounds include Dhana Bahadur Thapa (70), Krishna Man Rajbahak (71), Prabhat Kumar Rajbahak (72), Bishnu Neupane (70), Bishnu KC (78), Sachin Prasad Bhattarai (69), Gopal Nagarkoti (73), Shivaram Poudel (75) and Ashish Pariyar (75). Two other amateurs Sandip Tamang (74) and Tanka Bahadur Karki (70) also made the cut.

Those to miss the pro cut include Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan, Ramesh Nagarkoti, Dipendra Rayamajhi, Kishan Kaliraj Sunar, Ramesh Adhikari, Basanta Raj Gurung and CB Bhandari among others.

Rokka carded one-under 33 in the front nine and two-under 32 in the back nine to climb atop the leaderboard. Rokka parred all eight holes apart from a birdie at par-3 sixth. On his way back, Rokka sank birdies on the 11th, 12th and 18th against a lone bogey on the par-3 15th.

Amateur Subash Tamang played a flawless first nine with birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to take the

turn at two-under 32. He had a topsy turvy back nine where he sank birdies on the 10th and 18th against bogeys on the 11th and 15th hole. Deepak Magar carded one-under 33 on the front nine and one-over 35 on the back nine to hold second place among the pros.

In all 27 golfers-21 pros and six amateurs-make the cut for the final two rounds from the original field for 40  players. Organised by the Nepal Professional Golfers Association, the tournament offers Rs 441,000 in total prize money. The champion will receive Rs 84,000, runner-up will earn Rs 53,000 and third-place pro will get Rs 37,000. Other pros to make the cut will also get their share of card rewards.