Rudresh enjoys the early advantage with a 66

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, Gurgaon's Deepinder Singh Kullar, Jaipur's Vishal Singh and Md Zamal Hossain of Bangladesh are in tied second place with matching scores of four-under-67 at Digboi Golf Links.

Heavy rain over the last few days resulted in the seventh hole being reduced from a par-5 to a par-4. Therefore, the par for the course in round one was 71 instead of the usual 72.

Rudresh's round included seven birdies and two bogeys. He began with a bogey on the first but then reversed the trend by collecting birdies on the third, fifth, eighth and ninth to make the turn at three under. He chipped-in on the fifth and made a 30-footer on the eighth.

The 23-year-old from the Delhi Golf Club sank birdies on the 11th, 13th and 16th as well before dropping a stroke on the 17th against the run of play.

"This is a fantastic start to the tournament for me. I hit it close all day and putted really well. My best effort of the day was the 30-feet birdie putt from the edge of the green on the eighth. That really got me going. It's now important for me to keep my focus and continue playing in this fashion over the next three days," Rudresh said after his round.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, a five-time winner at Digboi, made an eagle, three birdies and a bogey in his round of 67 that placed him joint second. Like Mukesh, Md Zamal Hossain Mollah too made an eagle, three birdies and a bogey to be placed tied second.

Deepinder Singh Kullar and Vishal Singh had five birdies and a bogey each in their respective rounds as they shared second place with Mukesh and Zamal.

Delhi's Shamim Khan and Chandigarh