Shrestha began the last round from three shots behind the overnight leader and defending champion Abhijit Singh Chadha. However, he put up a good challenge for a card of five-under 67 on the final day to force a play-off before prevailing on the first play-off hole (18th) with a birdie. The play-off was necessitated after both the players had finished with a tournament total of 18-under 270.[break]
Asian Tour star Anirban Lahiri made a brilliant charge but faltered in the final holes to finish third at 17-under. Mukesh Kumar and Ajeetesh Sandhu were tied for the fourth place at 274. Rahul Bajal and Md Dulal Hossain shared the sixth position at 276.
With this achievement, Shrestha earned Rs 775,920 while Chadha was forced to settle for the runner´s up amount of Rs 535,920. Lahiri received Rs 300,720.
Shrestha became the second Nepali pro after the 2007 winner Deepak Thapa Magar to win the biggest golf tournament of Nepal.
Shrestha shot birdie on the first, third, fourth, seventh and ninth holes to finish front nine at five-under 31 and catch up Chadha, who shot two-under 34 on the front nine. Shrestha took the lead after shooting birdie on the 11th hole but Chadha caught him on the very next hole as Shrestha suffered a bogey after missing 3-putt shots. Chadha added pressure on Shrestha carding birdie on the 15th hole.
However, he missed a four-foot par putt on the 17th hole and suffered a bogey and the scores were level. On the last hole, Shrestha missed a five-foot birdie to go to play-off.
Lahiri was at 12-under score until third round and put up charged up performance on the last round with front nine score of six-under 30. He shot birdies on the 12th and 13th holes but his driver shot went to OB on the 14th hole, where he suffered bogey. He tried to make-it up with a birdie on the 15th but bogeys on the 16th and 17th pulled him down to third position.
“I was confident enough this time since the practice round. I was thinking off to finish the tournament at somewhere near 20-under and I ultimately did it," said Shrestha. "After faltering on the 12th hole, I was obviously under pressure but I consoled my self there were still few more holes to go," he summarized the day.
Chief Secretary of Nepal Government Leela Mani Paudyal and Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Managing Director Syed Mahmood Ahmad gave away the prizes. During the prize ceremony, Chief Secretary Paudyal thanked Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd for sponsoring the tournament to fulfill its corporate social responsibility.
Surya Nepal has been sponsoring professional golf tour in Nepal and the Surya Nepal Masters is the co-sanctioned event of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Nepal Professional Golfers Association. Speaking at the ceremony, Ahmad termed Shrestha´s victory as the proud moment for Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd as its support in developing and promoting golf in the country bring up a Nepali winner at the Surya Nepal Masters.
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