Home favourite Vani Kapoor fired a round of 67 (-5) to hold the outright lead at the end of day one of the Hero Women's Indian Open.
The Indian star is competing in her 13th Indian Open and made the most of home advantage at DLF Golf and Country Club.
Kapoor began the day with a birdie at the first before making her only dropped shot of the day on the second.
The 31-year-old soon bounced back with birdies at the fifth and ninth before rolling in three on the trot on 11, 12 and 13 to sit at the top of the leaderboard on five-under-par.
Three players are in a share of second place with 17-year-old Indian amateur Zara Anand, Singapore's Shannon Tan and Germany’s Verena Gimmy all on four-under-par.
England's Alice Hewson carded an opening round of 69 (-3) in India, which included three birdies and two bogeys, to sit in outright fifth place.
Canice Screene is the best of the Irish and is in a share of 35th place after a two-over 74 that included three birdies and five bogeys.
Anna Foster is a shot further back after an even more rollercoaster round that saw her shoot five birdies but record a triple bogey on the par-three 3rd hole, a double on 10 and three bogeys.
Annabel Wilson is also +3, despite posting four birdies, but Sara Byrne has work to do to make the cut after finishing on five over.
"After today’s round, I definitely feel more confident," said Kapoor. "I just want to repeat what I did today, one shot at a time. Enjoy this week. Try and not get overwhelmed, that’s about it.
"DLF was my friend today, so I hope it continues to be my friend. There were no mistakes as such, I just had one bogey on the second hole. I just hit a wrong club, went a little too aggressive, probably should not have. I took my lesson from there and then I was like, let’s just play within limits. Let’s not try to do a lot of things."
Round two will begin at 6.30am (1am Irish time) on Friday after which there will be a cut to the top 60 professionals ties.
