TURIN, Italy, Sept 13, 2012 (AFP) - The Italian carded a four-under 68 at the Royal Park I Roveri course to finish the first round four strokes behind the leader, Sweden's Joel Sjoholm.
Molinari, the 2006 winner of this tournament, was two shots better off than Ryder Cup teammates, Martin Kaymer and team captain Jose Maria Olazabal, while Nicolas Colsaerts was a shot further back on one under.
"It's fun playing in front of the home crowd, but there's a lot of pressure and everyone wants you to do well," said Molinari.
"It would be nice to give them a nice week, but it's quite tough. It was nice to spend some time together (with Nicolas Colsaerts and Martin Kaymer) and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun in America as well.
"We talked a little about a few things, but not too much."
The Ryder Cup takes place at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois from September 28-30.
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Sjoholm, who missed the cut in his last two tournaments, was the first round leader after an eight under par 64.
"I want revenge. The last two weeks I actually played quite good golf," said the Swede.
"Normally when I score well, I have to putt well. The last few weeks I've putted quite poorly and missed the cut by one stroke. Both times I felt like I had a good chance to make the cut, but you have to forget and keep moving on."
England's Lee Slattery picked up three shots in his last four holes to snatch second late in the day on seven under.
France's Victor Dubuisson, South Africans Keith Horne and Garth Mulroy, Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin and English trio Richard Bland, David Howell and Richard McEvoy all shot rounds off 66 to form a seven-way tie for third.
Leading and first round scores in the Italian Open at Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, on Thursday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72):
64 - Joel Sjoholm (SWE)
65 - Lee Slattery
66 - Richard Bland, Garth Mulroy (RSA), David Howell, Gareth Maybin, Keith Horne (RSA), Richard McEvoy, Victor Dubuisson (FRA)
67 - Shiv Kapur (IND), Edouard Dubois (FRA), Johan Edfors (SWE), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Alex Cejka (GER), Michael Jonzon (SWE), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Sam Little, Richard Sterne (RSA), Bradley Dredge
68 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Phillip Price, Julien Quesne (FRA), Scott Jamieson, Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Stephen Dodd, Marc Warren, Richard Finch, Tim Sluiter (NED), Alastair Forsyth, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP)
69 - Peter Whiteford, Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Matteo Manassero (ITA), Darren Fichardt (RSA), Graeme Storm, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), David Drysdale, Gary Boyd, Romain Wattel (FRA), Andrew Parr (CAN), Tommy Fleetwood, Giorgio De filippi (ITA), Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)
70 - Mikael Lundberg (SWE), Anders Hansen (DEN), Robert Coles, Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Peter Lawrie, Robert Karlsson (SWE), Thomas Norret (DEN), Joon Kim (ITA), Niclas Fasth (SWE), Shane Lowry, Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Gregory Havret (FRA), Craig Lee, Oscar Floren (SWE), Alessandro Grammatica (ITA), Dylan Frittelli (RSA), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Martin Kaymer (GER), Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP), Robert Rock, Daniel Denison, Markus Brier (AUT), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Hennie Otto (RSA), David McKenzie (AUS), Sam Walker, Andrea Pavan (ITA), Andrew Marshall, Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE)
Selected:
71 - Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Shaun Micheel (USA), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND), Jin Jeong (KOR)
72 - Alex Haindl (RSA), Scott Strange (AUS), Rich Beem (USA)
73 - Todd Hamilton (USA)
74 - Matthew Zions (AUS)
76 - Andrew Dodt (AUS)
RTD: Colin Montgomerie