Dharan, December 20

Nepal No 1 pro Shivaram Shrestha opened up the four-stroke lead over Sanjay Lama after the second and penultimate round of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open here at the Nirvana Country Club today.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club pro Shrestha carded one-over 71 for the 36-hole total of two-under 138. Lama, who shared the first-round lead with Shrestha, faltered to five-over 75 that put him second with two-over 142 at the par-70 course. Rabi Khadka (70), Bhuwan Nagarkoti (71) and Dhana Bahadur Thapa (73) were joint third at three-over 143.

Shrestha took the turn at one-over 36 after he suffered bogeys on the first and seventh holes against a lone birdie on the third. On the latter half, Shrestha carded even-par 35 despite carding three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th holes. He dropped a shot on the 11th hole and faced a double bogey on the 17th. Lama had a forgettable day as he shot four-over 39 on the front nine and added one-over 36 on the latter half. After dropping a shot on the fifth hole, Lama suffered a triple bogey seven on the ninth. On the back nine, Lama had a bogey on the 14th hole.

Local amateurs Shiva Kumar Majhi and Sukra Bahadur Rai shared the sixth position at four-over 144. Majhi played two-over 72, while Rai caught him with one-under 69. Surya Prasad Sharma (71) was eighth along with amateur Tanka Bahadur Karki at six-over 146. Karki produced the best card of the day with three-under 67. Local pros Bal Bhadra Rai (73) and Sabin Sapkota (74) were joint 10th at seven-over 147.

A total of 27 players—21 pros and six amateurs— made the cut that was applied at 18-over 158. Deo Raj Pakhrin, Rame Magar, Jayaram Shrestha, Deepak Magar, Bikash Adhikari, Tham Bahadur Rai, Sachin Bhattarai, Pashupati Sharma, Deepak Acharya, Ramesh Nagarkoti, Prasanna Upreti, Yelamber Singh Adhikari and Ashish Pariyar were the other pros who survived the cut, while Gajendra Gurung, Padam Hang Limbu and Yuv Raj Bhujel will join three other amateurs in the final round.

The season opening tournament of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17 — organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd — carries a total cash purse of Rs 600,000. Top three pros will receive Rs 110,000, Rs 70,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively. The tournament will end with a Pro-Am event on Thursday.