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Maxwell Moldovan spent the days leading up to the Jones Cup eyeing the weather in Sea Island, Georgia. Moldovan, a 19-year-old Ohio State sophomore, got excited by forecasted weekend conditions that probably made much of the rest of the field cringe. There’s a reason that, in three trips to the Jones Cup, Moldovan has always been in the mix.
For Saturday’s second round, a south wind switched directions and blew twice as hard, and the temperature dropped roughly 20 degrees. Moldovan’s game holds up well in those kind of conditions.
“We’re not strangers to wind at all, especially the cooler temperatures,” said Moldovan, an Ohio native.
On Saturday, only eight players broke par and many of the names on the top of the leaderboard backed up from low scores on Friday. Moldovan fired a 1-over 73 at Ocean Forest Golf Club, three shots higher than his first-round score. A triple bogey on No. 11 and a double bogey on No. 14 drove up his score but he offset those with five birdies – including a hole-out from a bunker on No. 17.
Leaderboard: Jones Cup
“I did feel like my round today was kind of a good example of what happens at the Jones Cup when the wind is up,” he said.
Moldovan plays a low ball flight, which works to his benefit in tough conditions. On days like Saturday, his mantra is just to keep it in play.
“You don’t always need to attack pins when the weather is like this,” he said. “If you can get it on the green and give yourself 20, 30, 40 feet, you’re picking up shots on the field.”
Moldovan finished 11th here in 2021 and eighth in 2020. Both finishes fell in the midst of a two-year winless drought that Moldovan cracked in July when he won the Southern Amateur by a record margin. His 20-under 72-hole total at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi, shattered Justin Leonard’s winning record from 1993 by six shots.
Looking back on that stretch of golf, Moldovan maintains that all things happen for a reason.
“I’ve never let the…
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Source : yahoo
