The first-round leaderboard of the LPGA Lotte Championship is a pretty good representation of the season-long Race to the CME Globe.
Five of the 14 players within four shots of the lead are currently in the top 10 and eight are ranked in the top 30.
The one glaring outlier is Italian Giulia Molinaro, who is sitting 127th in the season-long points competition and ranked 346th in the Rolex World Golf Rankings. Molinaro put together a solid 3-under 69 to sit four back of leader I.K. Kim.
Tied with notable names like Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr, Molinaro is in a much different situation than the others.
The Arizona State alumnus is trying to earn full-exempt status on the LPGA Tour after turning pro in 2012.
Her career now is a week-by-week performance-based struggle to stay competing at the top level.
"Even though I just have conditional status, I was very excited to come out this year and Monday qualify for Phoenix and make a decent cut there so hopefully I can have a good week here and we’ll see from there," Molinaro said. "I think my game has significantly improved from this year compared to last year, but mainly I’m just more comfortable out here.
"Mentally it’s tough to maintain and get a hold of yourself when you’re playing against the best in the world."
She was game to compete with the world’s best on Wednesday in blustery conditions at Ko Olina Golf Club, where she made one of eight cuts in 18 tournaments last season.
The key was a fast start in which she birdied three of her first four holes.
She drained a 15-foot putt on the first hole and then got "super, super lucky" to hit a left-to-right downhill putt to get to 2 under after two.
She nearly had her second hole-in-one in a month on the par-3 fourth, missing the cup by inches.
Molinaro won a 2016 Kia at the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix last month, holing an 8-iron from 148 yards after waiting out a four-hour weather delay.
"It was less than an inch," Molinaro said of her shot Wednesday. "I was surprised. The wind was blowing the other way so the ball didn’t go in."
She then strung together 12 consecutive pars to keep the round steady for a birdie at No. 17 got her to 4 under.
Molinaro flew the green at No. 18 but nearly recovered with a solid shot out of the bunker. She missed the putt to settle for her only bogey of the round to close on a sour note.
"It was unfortunate for the bogey on the last hole but it’s a great, great round with such a hard wind blowing," Molinaro said.
"Sometimes it’s hard to know the score is good when the conditions are tough. I’m happy to come out in the morning and post a good score."
Molinaro finished in a tie for 60th here last year and competed on Oahu at Arizona State, playing a tournament at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course.
Born in Italy, Molinaro spent most of her childhood in Kenya. In certain ways, coming to Hawaii to golf reminds her of her upbringing.
"The nature to me looks like the nature of Kenya but with the advances and technology of the United States," she said. "It’s an amazing place with amazing views. I always love to go home (to Kenya) and I always love Hawaii. I wish I could come back and visit the other islands."
A few more rounds like Wednesday and it shouldn’t be a problem.
