Scotland's Ramsay and Italian Molinari were the class of the field on day one in Crans Montana as they each posted eight-under-par rounds of 62 to claim a share of the overnight lead.
Both players were faultless throughout at the Crans-sur-Sierre course, with Ramsay's stunning performance highlighted by an eagle on the par-five first.
"Four under through three holes was a nice way to start," Ramsay said.
"I hit a great six iron into the first and then two more good iron shots into the next two, so I was flying at that point. It gave me a great boost and I managed to pick off a few more birdies after that."
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood heads a group of three players on six under, but would have been the outright leader if not for a double bogey at the par-four fourth and another dropped shot at the 10th.
Yet, while Ramsay and Molinari stole the limelight, there were strong performances from Jamie Donaldson and Thomas Bjorn, who both showed just why they are in Paul McGinley's team for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in just over three weeks' time.
Donaldson recovered from bogeys at holes nine and 12 to join six other players on five under thanks to an eagle at the 15th, while defending champion Bjorn carded a four-under 66 to move firmly into contention.
The Dane, who is seeking to emulate the legendary Seve Ballesteros by winning the title for a third time, said: "I didn't play well early on, but then I hit a couple of really good shots which brought two birdies and settled me down.
"So it wasn't the best of the best today, but it was good enough to get me off to a pretty decent start."