KATHMANDU, March 29: Rame Magar continued his lead after the completion of second round of the Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open on Wednesday at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club in Kathmandu.

Rame Magar carded three-over 71 in the second round for the 36-hole total of four-under 132. He had played seven-under 61 in the first round on Tuesday. Rame is two strokes ahead of Surya Prasad Sharma who played three-under 65, the best score of the second day. He leapfrogged to second from sixth position. 

Sanjay Lama, who carded three-over 71 and Bhuwan Nagarkoti  who played five-over 73 are jointly third at two-over 138. Similarly, Nepal number one pro Shivaram Shrestha carded three-over 71 to remain fifth at 139. 

Bikash Adhikari (71), Dhana Bahadur Thapa (71) and Krishna Man Rajbahak (72) jointly share sixth position at 140. Pashupati Sharma (70), Yelamber Singh Adhikari (73) and Rabi Khadka (70) are jointly ninth at six-over 142. 

Meanwhile, cut was applied at 17-over 153 and top 22 pros and six amateur golfers made it to the final two rounds.

Leader Rame began the second day with a birdie on the first hole and added another on the fifth. He made bogeys on the second and fifth holes double bogeyed on the ninth to finish front nine at two-over 36. Rame played one-over 35 on the back nine after he dropped a shot on the 15th hole.

Surya played three-under 31 on the front nine and even-par 34 on the back nine. He saved a shot on the second hole, sank eagle on the fourth and birdied on the ninth hole against a bogey on the seventh. After taking the turn, he saved shot on the 10th and 16th holes against a double bogey on the 15th. 

Sanjay played birdies on the fourth and seventh holes against bogeys on the second, sixth and eighth holes for a first-half total of one-over 35. Similarly, he saved shots on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes but dropped shots on the following three holes and bogeyed on the 17th hole for back nine total of two-over 36. 

Bhuwan carded two-over 36 on the front nine with birdies on the first against bogeys on the second, third and ninth holes. He played three-over 37 on the back nine with a lone birdie on the 10th hole against bogeys on the 11th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes. Shivaram meanwhile, played four-over 38 on the front nine one-under 33 on the back nine.

Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Ramesh Nagarkoti, Deepak Magar, Jayaram Shrestha, Chuda Bahadur Bhandary, Shiva Ram Poudel, Prakash Neupane, Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Dinesh Nagarkoti, Pradeep Kumar Lama and Ashish Pariyar also survived the cut.

The amateur section saw Basanta Raj Gurung maintain his lead at eight-over 144 after he carded five-over 73 in the second round. Sukra Bahadur Rai (74) is second at 10-over 146, while Tanka Bahadur Karki (71) is third at 148. Phuntsok N Lama, Tenzing Tsering and Bipin Tamang are the other three amateurs to survive the cut.

Altogether 40 players including 29 pros and 11 amateurs are taking part in the fifth tournament of the season under Surya Nepal Tour. 

 
• rame magar
 
• surya nepal kathmandu open