Kathmandu, July 5

Rabi Khadka moved atop the leaderboard after the second round  of the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Khadka carded three-under 69 to post a 36-hole total of five-under 139. Khadka is three strokes ahead of Ramesh Adhikari, who also shot 69 for a total score of two-under 142. Bhuwan Nagarkoti is third at 143 after he carded two-under 70 in the seventh and final event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16.

Khadka carded three-under 33 on the front nine with the help of birdies on the first, third and fifth holes. He the played even-par 36 on the latter half that included a birdie on the 12th against the lone bogey of his round on the final hole.

Adhikari carded one-under 35 before taking the turn and added two-under 34 on the back nine. He began the round with a birdie and dropped a shot on the second. He added his second birdie on the third hole. Adhikari carded  birdies on the 11th, 12th and 18th holes against a bogey on the 14th.

Nagarkoti carded three birdies on the second, third and seventh holes against the first-hole bogey to take the turn at two-under 34.

On the even-par 36 back nine, Nagarkoti shot birdies on 10th and 11th holes but suffered a double bogey on the 14th after hitting Out of Bounds with the tee shot.

Top pro Shivaram Shrestha carded three-under 69 with the help of birdies on the third, eighth and 18th holes for a total of even-par 144 and was tied on fourth with amateur Tashi Tsering, who shot two-over 74. Sanjay Lama was sixth at 145 after an even-par 72, while overnight leader Jayaram Shrestha faltered to six-over 78 for a total of two-over 146 and shared the seventh position with Ramesh Nagarkoti (70).

Tsering led the amateur standings at even-par 144. Tanka Bahadur Karki was a distant second at 150 after he shot five-over 77. Prithivi Malla, who also scored a 77, was further one shot behind at third at seven-over 151.

Out of the 46 players, 21 pros and six amateurs made the cut that was applied at 18-over 172. The event carries a total purse of Rs 540,750 and the top three pros  will receive Rs 100,000, Rs 63,000 and Rs 45,000 respectively. Others in the top 21 will also receive their share of cash prizes.