WATCH: Heartwarming moment when Maxwell Moldovan got the call of getting in this week’s US Open

Amateur golfer Maxwell Moldovan received on Sunday the phone call informing him that he had qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open as a third alternate. It was an emotional moment for him, as can be seen in a video posted on social media.

In the video Maxwell Moldovan looks thrilled with the news, and also somewhat relieved to be able to give a happy ending to a week of waiting. "Holy smokes," was the phrase with which he received the news.

Maxwell Moldovan is a junior at Ohio State University. A week ago, he participated in the 36-hole qualifier at Springfield Country Club, Philadelphia. He finished runner up after a hard-fought eight-hole playoff.

For this reason, he had to wait for the option of obtaining one of the alternates. Fortunately for him, the organizers assigned it to him. He thus joined Bastien Amat and Michael Kim as the alternates who will be present in Los Angeles.

Maxwell Moldovan's golf career

Maxwell Moldovan, 22, was born in Uniontown, Ohio, and has been involved in golf almost from the cradle. His father is a teaching professional at Ohio Prestwick Country Club, the course where Maxwell learned to play and developed his earliest skills.

As a junior player, he excelled from very early on. In 2016, he won the Ohio State Championship (Division 1) of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) with his Green High School team.

A 12-years-old Maxwell Moldovan won all three events at The Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, 2014 (Image via Getty).

By 2017, he was already an individual champion of the OSHAA Division 1 State Championship. In 2018, he repeated as an individual state champion and received his second First Team All-Ohio designation.

His Senior year booked him finishing as a runner-up at the state championship. He also accomplished his third First Team All-Ohio appointment, and the Jack Nicklaus Scholarship to join the Ohio State University men's golf team.

Before officially becoming an Ohio State Buckeye, Maxwell Moldovan wrote other impressive pages. That season (2019-20), he won the Ohio Amateur Championship and tied for fourth at The Junior PLAYERS Championship. He also finished runner-up at the 2019 Memorial Junior as well as the Junior Invitational.

Maxwell Moldovan at the 2022 U.S. Open Championship (Image via Getty).

For these and other relevant results he was ranked 33rd in the world amateur rankings and won the 2019 Amateur Junior Golfers Association (AJGA) Player of the Year Award.

He joined the Buckeyes in 2020 and his presence was felt from day one. At the end of the season, he was the team leader in scoring average (71.50), rounds at or under par (16), and rounds in the 60s (8). He also led Ohio State to the NCAA regional championship, where he finished T17.

In his sophomore year, he won three individual tournaments: the NEXUS Collegiate, the Southern Invitational and the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. In addition, he set some stellar marks including a team record 71.03 scoring average and a streak of 11 of 13 rounds in the 60s, six of them in a row.

During the season, he managed to qualify for the 2022 U.S. Open, where he shot a round of 75 and a round of 72, but failed to make the cut.