Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha clinched the Surya Nepal Central Open with a whooping 20-stroke margin at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Thursday.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) rounded up his campaign with one -under 71, his worst score of the four rounds, but was still enough to finish 20 strokes ahead of Surya Prasad Sharma and Sanjay Lama, who ended up in joint second. Shrestha had carded six-under in the first, nine-under in the second and again six-under in the third round.

The top-ranked golfer shot a total of 22-under 266, while Sharma and Lama finished at two-under 186. Sharma shot four-under 76 while Lama caught him in second with a card of even-par 72 on the final day of the second event of the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2017-18.

Rame Magar finished in fourth at two-over 290 after shooting one-under 71 on Thursday. Deepak Magar ended up in fifth at 294 despite carding three-over 75 on the final day. Bhuwan Nagarkoti carded 80 and Jayaram Shrestha 78 to finish joint sixth at 296. Dhana Bahadur Thapa carded 77 and ended up in eighth at 297. Bhu Bahadur Gurung (77) was ninth at 299 and Pashupati Sharma (78) 10th at 300. 

Shrestha had all but secured the championship coming into the final round with 15-stroke lead over Sharma as massive cushion played a huge part in his approach on Thursday. Shrestha carded two-under 34 on the front nine with birdies on fourth and sixth holes. On his way back he sank a birdie on the 11th but lost him his momentum dropping shots on the 12th and 15th holes for one-over 37 card. 

It was the record 38th professional career title for the RNGC pro and earned him Rs 115,000 in prize money. 

In his front nine, Lama carded two-under 34 with birdies on the second and fifth to add to an eagle on the third hole. He also dropped shots on the sixth and eighth hole. He was wayward on his way back nine carding a double bogey on the 14th, bogey on the 15th and a birdie on the 17th hole for a two-over 34 back nine score.

Sharma shot identical two-over 38 in each half. His front nine card included two birdies on the third and fourth against a double bogey on the sixth and bogeys on the seventh and eight holes. Sharma sank a single birdie and three birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th holes in his back nine. Both Sharma and Lama received Rs 63500 each. Other pros who made the cut for the final two rounds also earned their share of cars rewards.

Phuntshok N Lama clinched the amateur category title with the score of 25-over 313. Subash Ghising finished second on countback after tying with Sunil KC at 317. In all, 42 golfers—32 pros and 10 amateurs—took part in the tournament that offered Rs 630,000 in prize money.