On a windy and breezy day, the veteran Indian, a former winner of the Scottish Open, but now without a full Tour card, birdied fifth, sixth and ninth holes and added a fourth birdie on 10th.
High winds made scoring very difficult in the Highlands as the Scottish Open returned to Castle Stuart Golf Links for the first time since 2013.
At four-under through 10 holes, he was the leader, but he then double bogeyed the par-5 12th, bogeyed the 13th and finished with a bogey on par-18th to drop to even par and Tied-30th place.
With a good number of players yet to finish their round, Scott Hend, who is one of the numerous Asian Tour winners on the European Tour this year, was in shared lead with Felipe Aguilar.
Chilean Aguilar and Australian Hend set the clubhouse target on a wild and windy day one as the Inverness coast lived up to its billing. The duo were the only players to break 70 from the morning starters.
Aguilar had been one of a few players to get to four under at one point during their round but he bogeyed the fearsome 607 yard last to drop back to three under and join Hend in a share of the lead.
The Chilean missed six cuts in a row after the turn of the year as he admitted he struggled to recover from taking part in an Iron Man triathlon but a second-placed finish at the Volvo China Open represented an upturn in form.
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