Kathmandu, December 25

Former top pro Shivaram Shrestha extended the lead to eight strokes after the third round of the Surya Nepal Central Open at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Shrestha carded four-under 68 to post 10-under 206 and opened up comfortable advantage over fellow RNGC pro Rabi Khadka going into final round of the season-opening event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2019-20. Khadka carded three-under 69 in third round to move to second with the score of two-under 214.

Shrestha, who slipped to second in the Order of Merit for the first time since 2011 after he missed almost half of the events in the previous season, carded two-under 34 on either half.

Starting the day six strokes ahead of No 1 pro Bhuwan Nagarkoti and newly-turned professional Sukra Bahadur Rai, Shrestha made a bright start carding birdies on the first, third and seventh holes against a bogey on the sixth. After taking the turn, Shrestha carded birdies on the 12th and 15th holes.

Khadka had an eventful front nine before he settled for one-under 35, while he carded two-under 34 on the back nine. He faced a bogey on the first hole but he sank an eagle on the third. He then dropped a shot on the eighth and carded a birdie on the ninth. On the back nine, Khadka faced a bogey on the 11th before firing birdies on the 12th, 16th and 17th holes.

Rame Magar was third at two-over 218 after he shot one-over 73. He made a good start carding two-under 34 on the front nine but went on to face four bogeys on the back nine to slip to three-over 39. Nagarkoti and Rai shared the fourth position at 219 after they returned with the round of three-over 75 each, while veteran pro Deepak Thapa Magar and Sanjay Lama were tied for sixth at 220.

The 13th South Asian Games double gold medallist Subash Tamang maintained his lead in amateur section despite playing one-over 73 for the total score of five-over 221. He shared the overall eighth position with one of his coaches, pro Dhana Thapa, and was five strokes ahead of Ritesh Tamang in his bid to win first amateur title of the season. Ritesh also played one-over 73 in the third round.

A total of 47 golfers — record 43 pros and four amateurs — took part in the four-day event that carries a cash purse of Rs 700,000. Top three pros will receive Rs 125,000, Rs 80,000 and Rs 58,000, while other pro who survived the cut will get their share of cash prizes.