Memorial’s William Moll wins playoff to finish second in Class 6A state tournament.
GEORGETOWN — A missed putt here. A twoputt there.
Missed opportunities down the stretch sent one Houston-area golfer into a tiebreaker at the UIL Class 6A boys state tournament. It cost another a shot to medal.
Memorial’s William Moll made the shots he needed and beat Matthew Denton of Austin Westlake on the second playoff hole to finish as the state runner-up Tuesday at Legacy Hills.
“This is awesome. It feels great,” said Moll, who entered the second round tied with Kingwood’s Damin Strydom atop the leader board before shooting an even-par 72 to finish 4 under. “I feel like I did pretty good. I had a few bogeys. I had a chance on the last hole (before the playoff) for a birdie to tie but lipped out.”
Can’t catch Coody
Moll and Denton both finished one shot behind Plano West’s Parker Coody, the grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, who was in attendance. The younger Coody opened the day three shots off the pace but answered with six birdies to charge up the leader board.
“Plan was to just go low,” Coody said. “Go flag hunting — pins weren’t in hard places. Wind was down in the front nine so just go at some pins and make some putts.”
After 36 holes — and with inclement weather heading toward the course — Moll and Denton went back out to the par-5 No. 18 for the playoff. Each made par putts to remain tied, sending the duo back to the 18th tee once again.
That’s when Moll caught a break.
“I got lucky that Matthew had a bad drive,” Moll said of Denton’s tee shot that went way right.
Moll did end up in a greenside bunker, with his save still short of the green. But he chipped on and sank a 5-foot putt for par while Denton missed his.
“It’s basically just get it in the fairway and then go for the green,” Moll said. “Both times, it was driver-three wood and it’s all short game on that hole.”
Learning experience
Strydom (141) and Southlake Carroll’s Max Kettler tied for fourth. For the Kingwood freshman, Tuesday was as much a learning lesson as gaining experience. He canceled out two birdies on the front nine with a bogey on No. 9 and two more on Nos. 16 and 17.
He also missed a birdie chance on No. 18.
“I left some shots out there,” Strydom said. “Those last three holes, I missed three putts inside 10 feet that I probably should have made. Maybe it was the inexperience a little bit, but if I put myself in that position next time, I have confidence that I’ll be able to close it out.”
Strydom did lead Kingwood to a fourth-place finish in the team standings. The Mustangs hadn’t advanced to state as a team since 2013 and finished a shot behind Southlake Carroll.
Austin Westlake went wire to wire in capturing its eighth state championship.
The Chaparrals were the lone team to shoot under par Tuesday, posting a two-day total 572 to beat defending champion Plano West by seven strokes.
Kingwood (592) was a shot better than Flower Mound Marcus, while Memorial (601) took seventh.
“Miss third by one shot? That’s pretty good — I’ll take it,” Strydom said. “Looking forward to next year and hopefully we can get a top-three finish and maybe even the win.”