Shrestha registers 7-under to lead Day I

KATHMANDU, March 14: Nepal No 1 Shiva Ram Shrestha registered a card of 7-under 65 in the first day in his quest for the title of the Surya Nepal Masters, which teed off on Wednesday. After playing a terrific round of golf, he took a stroke lead over Shankar Das of India.



Das scored 6-under 66 to lie at the second position of the leader-board after playing 18 holes at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort.[break]



Sri Lankan Anura Rohana and Sanjay Kumar of India were tied for third place at 5-under 67. Vikrant Chopra and Abhijit Singh Chadha were tied for the fifth spot at 4-under 68. Defending champion Rashid Khan shot a disastrous 9-over 81 to be in the 101st position while the top Indian in fray Mukesh Kumar shot a 1-under 71 to tie for the 12th position.



Shrestha, who won seven out of 11 tournaments in the NPGA Surya Nepal Golf Tour season and finished on top of the Order of Merit, took the home advantage with back to back birdies on the second and third hole adding two more on the seventh and ninth to take the turn at 4-under.



On the back nine, he shot an eagle on the 11th while saving one more stroke on the 12th to be 7-under. With another six holes to go, Shrestha was unlucky on a couple of occasions while missing his birdie.





Shiva Ram Shrestha Photo: Keshab Thokar



Meanwhile, Das shot eight birdies (2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 17th) against two bogeys on the eighth and 13th.



“I am happy with my game although I missed a couple of birdies. This is just the beginning and I have three more rounds to go,” said Shrestha.



Toran Shahi, Rabi Khadka and Sanjay Lama were the next best Nepali professionals with an even par round of 72 and were all tied for the 23rd place.

Meanwhile Tashi Tsering emerged as the top amateur at 75 and was in tied-45th position overall.

Related story

Shrestha elected to lead NNIPA unanimously