Surya Nepal Western Open Shiva Ram takes lead (with video)

POKHARA, January 15: /Nepal No 1 and Defending champion Shiva Ram Shrestha moved atop the leaderboard after the second day of the Surya Nepal Western Open, the sixth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2013-14, at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara on Wednesday.

RNGC pro Shiva Ram carded two-over 72 for a total of seven-over 147. He is one stroke ahead of Army Club pro Sanjay Lama. Sanjay also played 72 today. Nepal No 2 Rabi Khadka is third at 10-over 150 after his round of even-par 72, while first-round leader Ramesh Nagarkoti slipped to fourth with the total score of 151. Ramesh shot nine-over 79 in the second round.

Ram Krishna Shrestha and Umesh Nagarkoti share the fifth position at 152, while CB Bhandari, Surya Prasad Sharma and Deepak Thapa Magar share seventh position at 130-over 153. Likewise, first-round joint leader Suman Rai of Dharan and local pro Bhuwan Gurung share 10th position at 155.

Shiva Ram played one-over 36 on both the halves. On the front nine, Shiva Ram shot a bogey on the third hole, while his back nine included a birdies on the 17th and a double bogey on the 17th hole. Sanjay took the turn at four-over 39 on the front nine and carded two-under 33 on the back nine. Sanjay suffered a triple bogey on the second hole and faced bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes, He carded a birdie on the third hole. On the back nine, Sanjay carded birdies on the 13th, 14th and 17 holes and faced a bogey on the 15th hole.

The cut was applied at 31-over 171 and 22 pros made it to the final two rounds. Ram Thapa, Mani Rai, Ramesh Adhikari, Sabin Sapkota, Dhruba KC, Tirtha Poudel, Tham Bahadur Rai, Dhana Thapa, Sunil Mizar and Ashish Pariyar qualified for the final two rounds. Only Uttam KC and Prasanna Upreti failed to make the cut in pro section.

In Amateur section, local player Sanjeev CK is on top with the total score of nine-over 149. Arun Tamang and Dinesh Prajapati share the second position at 153, while Shiva Raj Majhi and Bikash Bogati share the fourth position at 157. Also making the cut are Sonam Bhujel, Jiwan Rai, Ajeet BK, Bhuwan Gurung, Maj LP Gurung and Kiran Subba.

The 14th edition of the Western Open is organised by Nepal PGA under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd. The prize purse for the event has been raised this year to Rs 514,250. The top three pros will receive Rs 95,000, Rs 60,000, and Rs 44,000 respectively. After the four-day main event, the Pro-Am tournament will be held on Saturday.

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