Aditi Ashok, the only Indian participant in the women's individual event as golf returned for women for the first time since 1900, posted an impressive 3-under 68 to find herself tied-7th at the end of the first round of four, in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
This placed her just three shots behind overnight leader Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, who finished with 6-under 65.
Aditi teed off in the company of 40th-ranked Carlota Ciganda of Spain and Russia's Maria Verchenova, and settled into her groove almost immediately. She comfortably completed the par-five 1st, before registering her first birdie for the week on the 435-yard par-four 2nd.
She then played out the remaining seven holes on the front nine without any shots dropped or gained, and then climbed into the top 10 of the leaderboard for the first time with a birdie on the 526-yard par-five 10th. Aditi then scored her third birdie of the day on the 190-yard par-three 14th, and soon after saw Ciganda slip up from the top of the leaderboard -- the Spaniard was at 6-under at one stage, before a double-bogey on the par-four 15th -- but held her nerve to finish with 3-under 68.
Talking about her opening-round, Aditi told the Golf Channel, "At the end of the day, just fall back on your routine, and just go out there and play golf. And that's what I did."
"As a professional, you don't get an Olympic experience. And to play for my country, especially at such a young age, it means a lot to me," Aditi was quoted as saying.
Aditi will be teeing off in the second group of round two -- paired up alongside Ciganda and Verchenova again -- at 4.11pm on Thursday.