Kathmandu, May 8 Surya Prasad Sharma began the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship with a flawless six-under 66 here at the Gokarna Golf Club today. Sharma carded three- under 33 on both the halves to submit the bogey-free card. Sharma made a bright start to the opening round of the seven event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour with three straight birdies. He then saved pars on six consecutive holes to take the turn at three-under 33. On the back nine, Sharma carded birdies on the 11th, 13th and 15th holes. Three pros — Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha, Sanjay Lama and Rame Magar — were five shots off the pace at tied second position at one-under 71. The winner of the first four events of the season, Shrestha shot one-over 37 on front nine and carded two-under 34 on the latter half. He began the round with two straight birdies before dropping a shot on the third. On the back nine he carded birdies on 10th, 11th and 14th against a bogey on the 16th hole. Lama also had one-over 37 on the front nine before carding two-under 34 on the latter half. Lama faced bogeys on fourth and sixth holes against a lone birdie on the seventh. On the back nine, he sank an eagle on 11th hole and carded birdies on 15th and 16th. But he dropped shots on the 14th and 17th holes. Magar carded one-under 35 on the front nine before playing even-par 36 after taking the turn. Magar saved pars on the first eight holes before carding a birdie on the ninth. On the back nine, he had a birdie on 10th against a bogey on the 15th hole. Home club pro Bhuwan Nagarkoti, and Bhu Bahadur Gurung shared the fifth position at one-over 73, while three pros — Pashupati Sharma, Prasanna Upreti and Rajendra Thapa Magar — were further back at two-over 74. Dinesh Nagarkoti and Rabi Khadka were tied at three-over 75. In amateur section, Tanka Bahadur Karki was at the top of the leaderboard with the score of two-over 74, while Bipin Tamang and Tenzing Tsering were joint second at seven-over 79. A total of 40 players — 33 pros and seven amateur golfers — are taking part in the four-day tournament sponsored by Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd. Cut will be applied after the second round with top 21 pros and six amateurs making it to the final two rounds. The event carries a total purse of Rs 600,000. Top three pros will receive Rs 110,000, Rs 70,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively. Others in the top 21 will also earn their share of cash prizes.