Kathmandu, April 26

Bhuwan Nagarkoti registered a two-stroke victory over defending champion Shivaram Shrestha to win the title of the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Nagarkoti, who was in the four-way lead with Shrestha, Dhana Bahadur Thapa and amateur golfer Tanka Bahadur Karki going into the final round, carded four-under 68 to post the 72-hole total of six-under 282. He won the third title of the season and fifth overall and received the cheque of Rs 115,000.

The home club pro Nagarkoti took the turn at one-under 35 and carded three-under 33 on the back nine. He started the day with a bogey on the second hole before carding birdies on the third and seventh holes. On the bogey-free back nine, Nagarkoti carded birdies on the 10th, 12th and 16th holes.

“I am satisfied with my overall performance in the tournament,” said Nagarkoti. “As I was playing in the second last group, I concentrated on my game and I was taking note of the scores of the leader group,” he added. “Except for the third round when I could not putt well, played good rounds of golf on other days,” said Nagarkoti. “The win has put me in contention to be No 1 in Order of Merit and I will try my best to win the next tournament and top the ranking,” he added.

Nepal No 1 Shrestha carded two-under 70 but that was not enough for him to defend the title. He was tied with Nagarkoti and Thapa at three-under after the completion of nine holes. His one-under 35 included birdies on the third and ninth holes and a bogey on the eighth where he was slapped with one-stroke penalty after the ball rolled down at a time when he was preparing to take the shot from the edge of the bunker.

Shrestha fell four strokes behind after he shot a bogey on the 14th hole. He pulled one back on the 15th but again dropped a shot on the next. Shrestha narrowed the gap with birdies on the last two holes and finished second earning Rs 74,000.

Purna Sharma played a round of one-over 73 and a share of third position with Rame Magar (71) at even-par 288. They earned Rs 47,500 each. Dhana Thapa faltered to four-over 76 and slipped to joint fifth with Rabi Khadka (73) at 290 and they received Rs 34,500 each. Deepak Acharya (75), Jayaram Shrestha (70) and Bal Bhadra Rai (69) shared the seventh position at four-over 292 and they received Rs 26,333 each. Ram Krishna Shrestha (74) was 10th at 293 and he earned Rs 22,000.