With his second consecutive 3-under-par 69 on Friday at Whispering Pines Golf Club, Moll finds himself in the lead of the oldest and most prestigious championship in Texas. His 6-under 138 total gives him a one-shot advantage over a pair of Texas A&M teammates, junior Chandler Phillips from Huntsville and sophomore Reese Ramsey from Austin.
Moll racked up seven birdies in his second round – including three in a row on Holes 12-14 – thanks to a hot putter and deft short game. He had nine one-putts on the day and added a chip-in for birdie for good measure.
“I didn’t hit it too good, but I had 25 putts,” said Moll, who won the 2017 Jones Cup Junior Invitational last December. “I was chipping and putting really good. I had a bunch of good up-and-downs and one-putts for birdie and par.”
Moll, who has verbally committed to Vanderbilt, suffered a bogey on the par-5 17th hole when he nearly lost his ball and pushed a 3-wood into the tall fescue grass right of the green. He bounced back right away, however, by draining a 35-footer for birdie on the treacherous par-4 18th hole.
“It feels great,” Moll said about his position atop the leaderboard. “Tomorrow, though, I probably won’t think about it and treat it like a regular round of golf.”
He’ll be paired together with Phillips and Reece, who are tied for second place at 5-under 139. Phillips, who holds the Aggies’ record for career victories with six college wins, shot 3-under 69 in the second round. He called it a “boring round of golf.” Apparently his version of boring is a bogey-free, three-birdie trip around the No. 1-ranked course in the state.
“Everything was mediocre, but I don’t care. I like boring golf,” said Phillips, who counts the 2018 NCAA Regional Championship at Traditions Club as his biggest collegiate victory to date. “It was a pretty solid day; I just couldn’t read the greens today to save my life.”
“I had a flyer lie out of there,” he said with a smile. “I am an idiot, but I look like a hero on that hole. I’ll take it.”
Reese, for his part, shot out of the gates like a rocket for the second straight day. He was 4-under through six holes in Thursday’s first round when he posted 69. On Friday, he upped the ante and started birdie-birdie-eagle. He finished with a 2-under 70 to grab a share of second place.
“I started off and hit an iron shot on my first hole to 2 feet,” said Ramsey, who started his round on the 10th hole. “Then on my second hole, I hit it to about 3 feet. Then I hit a 5-iron on Hole 12, the par-5, to about a foot. So I had about 5 feet of putts on my first three holes. All kick-ins. A good way to start, I guess.”
Trip Carter from Dallas and San Antonio’s Levi Valadez, who was a runner-up in last summer’s 108th Texas Amateur, are tied for fourth place at 3-under 141. Carter rolled in three birdies in the second round and fired a 2-under 70. Valadez also made three birdies Friday. He posted a 1-under 71.
Tied for sixth place at 2-under 142 are Kyle Hogan from Cypress, Wes Artec from Kingwood and Pierceson Coody from Plano. Mitchell Meissner from San Antonio holds ninth place alone at 1-under 143. Four players are tied for 10th place, including Mitchell’s brother McClure Meissner.
Fifty-five players made the 36-hole cut at 8-over 152 or better.
The third round of the 109th Texas Amateur starts Saturday at 8 a.m.