Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown, Ohio becomes the first Ohio native and first-ever Midwestern male to earn the prestigious AJGA Player of the Year award, joining past recipients Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods on the historic list.
He is joined by Rose Zhang, a 16-year old from California, as the AJGA Girls Player of the Year honoree.
The Green High School senior and Ohio State verbal commit earned Rolex Junior All-America honors for the first time, finishing the season No. 1 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Moldovan was hot during two weeks of summer match play (9-0-1) – one week winning the Polo Golf Junior Classic at Liberty National and the next, helping the East Team to a Wyndham Cup victory.
“I had a really good year … definitely the best of my career so far,” said Moldovan. “My goal was to finish in the top 15 in Invitationals and try to win an AJGA tournament. I won in 2016 and 2017, but not last year. I can’t thank God, my family and friends enough for all they’ve done in my life. My faith has led to great things and winning this award is a true honor that reflects God’s glory. ”
Moldovan finished the 2019 season with a chip-in good for a T4 finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass – an event modeled after THE PLAYERS Championship – to solidify his sixth top-10 national junior golf finish recognized by the Rolex AJGA Rankings, and a spot on the United States Junior Presidents Cup squad. The second biennial edition of the match play event will be contested in December before the professionals play at Australia’s Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Moldovan started the summer second place at the Memorial Junior hosted by Sung Hyun Park at Ohio State’s Scarlet course.
“It was great to play well at the course where I’m going to play every day for the next few years in college,” Moldovan said. “Winning would’ve been even better there, but not winning gave me the motivation to play well and win at Polo.”
Moldovan’s 2019 highlights:
· First-time Rolex Junior All-American
· Won Polo Golf Junior Classic at Liberty National in the event’s return to match play
· Three-time AJGA career champion
· Undefeated in Wyndham Cup East Team matches (4-0-0) en route to a team victory
· Finished runner-up at the Memorial Junior hosted by Sung Hyun Park and Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club
· T4, The Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass
· Collected six top-10 national junior golf finishes in 2019
· Played in the U.S. Amateur and won the Ohio Amateur Championship
· Selected to 2019 United States Junior Presidents Cup Team
READ THE FULL AJGA PLAYER OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCEMENT >
– story courtesy of the AJGA
