DHARAN, December 27: No 2 pro Rabi Khadka carded four-under 66 to go atop the leaderboard after the third day of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open, the fifth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2013-14, at the Nirvana Country Club Health and Golf Resort in Dharan on Friday.
With the total score of three-over 213, the RNGC pro Rabi is two strokes ahead of local pro Suman Rai and Gokarna Golf Club’s Umesh Nagarkoti. Suman played one-over 71 and Umesh carded even-par 70 today for the total score of five-over 215.
Overnight leader Deo Raj Pakhrin (74) and Ramesh Adhikari (68) of RNGC shared the fourth position at seven-over 217, while five pros – Sabin Sapkota, Tham Bahadur Rai, Ram Thapa, Deepak Thapa Magar and Mani Rai – shared the sixth position at 10-over 220.
Rabi took the turn at even-par 35 before firing four-under 31 on the back nine. He carded two birdies on the second and eighth holes against bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes on the front nine. On the back nine, Rabi carded birdies on the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes.
Suman carded two-under 33 on the front nine but slipped to three-over 38 on the back nine, while Umesh played even-par 35 on both the halves. Second-round leader Deo Raj carded even-par 35 on the front nine before adding four-over 39 on the back nine, while Ramesh played 35 on the front nine and carded two-under 33 on the back nine.
In Amateur section, Dinesh Prajapati maintained his lead despite firing four-over 74 for a total score of 11-over 221. Dinesh, the member of Surya Nepal NGA Youth Golf Development Programme, is two strokes ahead of Rabindra Rai (72). Purna Limbu was third 19-over 229.