TRURO - Zohar Sharon added a fourth world blind golf championship trophy to his collection Tuesday at Truro Golf Club.
The 59-year-old from Aviel, Israel, shot 27-over-par 98 in Tuesday's final round to pass Day 1 leader Andrea Calcaterra, of Milan, Italy, and win the B1 division for golfers with no vision.
The victory is Sharon's second in less than a week on Canadian soil after winning the Canadian Blind Open Friday at Mountain Golf and Country Club.
"It's still hard for me to understand I won (the world championship) again," the 59-year-old, who successfully defended his 2010 title, said through a translator. "This course is an extremely hard one. We don't have a lot of water on our courses so it's much harder."
Calcaterra, who led by four strokes going into the final round of the 36-hole event, carded 108 while Saskatoon's Gerry Nelson came home third, shooting 116.
Calcaterra said his shaky putting performance Tuesday left the door open for Sharon to take the crown.
"I feel I played quite well from tee to green but I was not very consistent with my putting and that probably made the difference," the 59-year-old said.
Calcaterra said although he acknowledged the course allows a golfer to improve - as evidenced by his six-stroke improvement Tuesday - he was surprised to learn Sharon's score at the conclusion of their rounds and questioned its validity. Sharon fired an opening round 118 Monday on the 6,090-yard, par-71 layout.
"What makes me a little concerned is someone that gets 118 the first day and the second day gets 98," he said. "I have some question marks."
England's Pieta LeRoux took the B2 division after shooting 6-over-77 to finish with a tournament total 156. Jeremy Poincenot of the United States carded 81 Tuesday to finish 11 strokes behind while Ron Plath fired 88 to finish at 172.
Austria's Kurt Lirussi shot 80 Tuesday to take the B3 division with 163 over 36-holes while Steve Beevers of England was second, nine strokes off the pace. Scott Wilson of the United States was third, two strokes behind Beevers.
Sharon said he was especially happy to win because he battled so much adversity to do so. He battled illness through both the Canadian Open and world tournaments, a challenging course and ignored doctors orders to take part in the events.
"But I never gave up," he said. "I informed the doctors I'm going no matter what and I did it and I'm happy that I did it."
But both acknowledged the tournament wasn't the best it could have been without Salmon River's Brian MacLeod in the field. The 53-year-old was forced to withdraw after nine holes Monday with back spasms.
"I feel that if he would have been with us today the tournament would have been much better as far as the B1 is concerned," Calcaterra said. "He is the world champion, he is the best player we have among B1."
sports@trurodaily.com
