Round 3 of Nepal Masters called off

The third round of the Surya Nepal Masters, in association with Nepal Tourism Board, was called off after a political bandh was announced in the Himalayan capital city on Thursday.

The organising committee announced their decision to make the tournament a three-day affair with what was originally the fourth round now scheduled to be the third and deciding round.

Now a 54-hole tournament, from the originally scheduled 72 hole affair, the Rs 12 lakh INR (19.2 lakhs NC) Surya Nepal Masters will witness 60 professionals vie for the winner's cheque of Rs 1,89,840 INR, (3,37,044 NC).  The tournament is being played at the par-72, Le Meridien Kathmandu Gokarna Forest Golf Resort.

Nepal's top-ranked pro Deepak Acharya, while expressing disappointment at the cancellation of the third round, stated that he would spend the 'rest day' working on improving his putting, which let him down this week.

"I missed as many as six putts three feet or less yesterday and this prevented me from getting into the top-ten," said Acharya, who is currently nine strokes adrift of the leader.

"On Friday, I plan to spend a few hours working out my mistakes and I promise to keep the Nepalese flag flying high in the final round," added the 30-year old professional from the Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort.

The tournament itself is interestingly poised with Bangalore's C Muniyappa leading the field at six-under 138. A slender one stroke behind the leader is the duo of Nabin Mondal (Kolkata) and Shamim Khan (Delhi) at 139.

Acharya tallies three-over 147.