Willey gains second virtual golf title

PORTLAND – A Palmyra man with multiple sclerosis successfully defended his title as reigning champion in an international cybergolf competition on Tuesday.

Paul Willey won the Links Virtual Golf Association Tour in St. Augustine, Fla. LPGA golf star Annika Sorenstam presented Willey with a trophy and the $50,000 grand prize check.

Willey, who has earned a reputation as the Tiger Woods of online golf, said he almost didn’t participate in this year’s competition. Willey said he didn’t expect to play very well because he wasn’t able to devote as much effort to practice.

“Last year, I put in a 110 percent effort and I paid for it physically, due to my MS. So I had a rough winter and spring because of it,” Willey said.

In virtual golf, mouse clicks supplant shots and video mimics the course.

Willey, who uses a motorized wheelchair, has been playing computer golf since 1986, seven years before he was diagnosed with MS. He began entering tournaments in 1996.

Because the disease can cause Willey’s hand to go into spasm and his strength to wane, the computer game is physically challenging. He has to cope with fatigue, pain and the tremors that can affect his shot.

But Willey had set his mind on honoring his father’s memory by winning three golf trophies in one year – a feat his father accomplished before his death in July. Although swinging a club can make Willey cry out in pain, he won or was a runner-up in three tournaments – the actual kind – this year in Palmyra.

Willey ended up qualifying for the final four in the virtual tournament as well. His drive increased after learning he had a fan with muscular dystrophia who died in September.

“From that moment on, I decided to try my hardest,” Willey said.

Willey plans to use his winnings to finish paying off the house he shares with his wife, Lori-Ann, and their children, Josh, 9, and Alanda, 15.

More than 22,000 players participated in this year’s virtual tour. The final 18 holes simulated the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Willey defeated Bill Crouch, of Thorntown, Ind., by a score of 5 and 3 in match play.