POKHARA, February 13: Dhana Bahadur Thapa carded two-under 67 and climbed to the top of leaderboard after second round of the Surya Nepal Western Open, third event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2019-20, at the par-69 Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara on Thursday.
Dhana posted 36-hole total of two-under 136 and took three stroke lead over overnight leader Shivaram Shrestha. Shivaram faltered to two-over 71 to slip to second position with the total of one-over 139.
Jayaram Shrestha, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka and Sukra Bahadur Rai shared third position at 140. Jayaram carded one-under 68, Bhuwan returned even-par 69 card and Sukra played one-over 70 in second round. Niraj Tamang is sixth at 141 after he played two-over 71, and defending champion Sanjay Lama shared seventh place with Nepal No 1 Bhuwan Nagarkoti at four-over 142. Sanjay played even-par 69 and Bhuwan shot second straight 71.
Rabi Khadka is at ninth position with the score of 144 after he shot second straight 72, while Ram Krishna Shrestha (71) is next at 145. Winner of Surya Nepal Eastern Open last month in Dharan, Bal Bhadra Rai slipped to 11th at 147 after he suffered to eight-over 77 and Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali is next after he fired second straight 74 for the total of 148. Binod Tamang (72), Dinesh Prajapati (71), Surya Prasad Sharma (75) and Shivaram Poudel (74) shared the 13th place at 11-over 149.
Cut was applied at 16-over 154 and 24 pros and six amateurs made it to the final round. Rame Magar, Deepak Magar, Basanta Raj Gurung, Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Dal Bahadur Lama, Kamal Tamang, Bipin Tamang and Sunil KC also survived the cut.
Leader Dhana played one-under 33 on the front nine and carded one-under 34 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the third and seventh hole before facing a bogey on the ninth. After the turn, Dhana faced bogeys on the 12th and 18th holes against birdies on the 10th, 15th and 17th holes.
Overnight leader Shivaram faltered to three-over 37 on the front nine and carded one-under 34 on the back nine. He faced three straight bogeys on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes on the front nine. After the turn, he carded birdies on the 10th, 15th and 17th holes against bogeys on the 12th and 18th holes.
Jayaram played even-par 34 on the front nine and carded one-unde 34 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the fourth and faced a bogey on the sixth on the front nine. On the back nine, Jayaram faced a bogey on the 11th against birdies on the 15th and 17th holes.
Bhuwan played one-over 35 on the front nine and carded one-under 34 on the back nine for even-par 69. He faced bogeys on the first, sixth, ninth and 12th holes and a double bogey on the 18th holes against birdies on the third, fifth, 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes.
Sukra played impressive two-under 32 on the front nine but faltered to three-over 38 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the third, sixth and seventh holes before facing a bogey on the ninth. After the turn, Sukra suffered a quadruple bogey on the par-5 10th hole and dropped a shot on the 14th hole against birdies on the 13th and 15th holes.
In amateur section, Jitendra Rai is at the top with the score of 13-over 151 after he shot a 77, while Prajwal Gurung (76) is second at 153. Ajit BK and Suresh Lama shared the third place at 154, while Ramesh Gurung and Suresh Tamang also made the cut.
A total of 32 professionals and 16 amateurs are taking part in the 54 holes event organised by Nepal PGA and sponsored by Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd. The prize purse for the event has been raised this year to Rs.700,000 and winner will receive a cheque of Rs.125,000, Runner up Rs.75,000, second runner up Rs.55000. Others in the top 24 will also receive their share of cash prizes.