O’Rear and Hickman Share Lead at 38th Texas Mid-Amateur

HOCKLEY – Defending champion Ryan O’Rear of Leander and Aaron Hickman of Tyler share the lead headed into the Sunday’s final round at The Clubs at Houston Oaks. They sit at five-under for the championship.

O’Rear will look to defend his title tomorrow after firing a second round one-under 70. He credited his par-5 play en route to another under par round.

“Luckily I played the par 5’s well today,” O’Rear said. “It was pretty sloppy…I’m glad to be done, but I played the par 5’s well and I got it under par so I’m in a good position going into tomorrow.”

O’Rear will look to repeat as champion for the first time since Colby Harwell accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2018.

“I just need to clean up my round a little bit,” O’Rear said. “I just made some mistakes you can’t make. I short sided myself so I need to clean that up and I’ll be okay.”

Hickman credited his putting en route to a second consecutive round under par. Hickman and O’Rear are the only two players in the field to do so.

“I’ve putted really well,” said Hickman. “I made two bogeys the first two rounds, I think. Hit some good shots, but I’ve putted and chipped it really well.”

Hickman will look to win the Texas Mid-Amateur for the first time on Sunday to add to his Mid-Amateur Play title from last year.

“Keep it out in front of me and get into the spots where I can score from. It’s a good golf course and it’s right out there in front of you. You just got to hit some good shots,” Hickman said when asked what his game plan was heading into Sunday’s final round.

Three players sit just one shot back of the lead in a tie for third. Matt Van Zandt of Houston, William Aycock of The Woodlands, and Eric Lodge of Houston have all navigated their way to four-under for the championship.

“It was definitely playing tougher today,” Lodge said. “The wind was coming from a different direction which made it a little tricky and started off the round in the hay a good amount.”

Six players sit in a log jam at tied for sixth. Todd Albert of Katy, Robert Gwin of Montgomery, Frederick Janneck of Fort Worth, Joseph Mathis of Sugarland, Casey Carnes of Schertz, and Austin Smith of Houston are two-under par through two rounds.

Five players sit four shots back at one-under par including Clay Fullick of Conroe, Robert Johnson of Abilene, Sean Heidrick of McKinney, Jess Bonneau of Houston, and John Yerger of Dallas.

Through two rounds, there are sixteen players under par for the championship. The field played The Clubs at Houston Oaks from 6,774 yards in Round 2 and 57 players made the 36-hole cut at 6-over 148 or better.

The third round of the 38th Texas Mid-Amateur begins Sunday at 8 a.m. at Houston Oaks. For more information on this championship, click here.