Local talent Shweta Galande carded the only even par round of 72 on the first day to grab the lead in the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Oxford Golf Resort here on Wednesday.
Shweta had a shaky start, carding two bogeys on the first and fifth holes. Thereafter, she regained her composure and carded three birdies on the sixth, 10th and 14th holes while dropping just one shot in the back nine on the 18th for a 72.
Trailing her in joint second position at one-over 73 are Kiran Matharu and Amandeep Drall.
Kiran had an indifferent start, dropping three shots on the first, third and fifth holes with just a lone birdie on the fourth in her front nine. She played with much more control in the latter half and carded two birdies on the 10th and 15th holes while dropping a shot on the very last hole.
Amandeep, who is making a return to the Tour after a gap of one month, carded three birdies.
Kolkata's Smriti Mehra and the Delhi duo of Gauri Monga and Mehak Sharma were tied fourth with identical scores of 74.
Sharmila Nicollet is placed seventh with a score of 75, followed by Delhi's Ankita Tiwana and Bengaluru's Trisha Sunil in tied eighth position at 76.