Ken Duke

Duke was born in Hope, Arkansas. As a seventh-grader growing up in Arkadelphia, Ark, he was diagnosed with scoliosis and wore a back brace 23 hours a day. At 15 years old, doctors discovered his back was angled at 51 degrees. Five months later, the curve was at 72 degrees and worsening. Duke had surgery and had a 16-inch metal rod attached to his spine. A football and baseball player, contact sports were now finished for Duke, although his focus was elsewhere. "I was just hoping to be able to walk again," Duke says. Within five months of surgery, Duke was hitting balls; six months later, he won medalist honors in a high-school district tournament while wearing a back brace. Duke played his college golf at Division II Henderson State University. He credits his father for giving him his start in golf but says legendary instructor Bob Toski changed his swing and life.
After turning professional in 1994, Duke bounced around the world, playing mini-tours and on the Asian Tour, South American Tour, and Canadian Tour. Played on the Korn Ferry Tour in 1995, again in 2003, and then between 2005 and 2011. First played on the PGA Tour in 2004, 2007 through 2009, then in 2012 and this year. He finally won on the PGA Tour at the 2013 Travelers Championship, defeating Chris Stroud on the second playoff hole. It was his 187th start at age 44 years, 4 months, and 25 days.
Won 1995 Arkansas Open and finished first on the 1999 Canadian Tour Order of Merit with $122,187. He won the 1999 Shell Payless Open and Bayer Championship on Canadian Tour. He played in the 1997 British Open Championship. He competed in 1993 and 1994 U.S. Amateurs.
1995 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 22; in money - 5; top -10 Finishes - 0; Scoring average 73.49 (rank N/A); money $3,028 (rank 179th); best finish T-24th, Knoxville Open.
He played only once on PGA Tour in 1996, T-23rd Greater Vancouver Open.
He also played once on PGA Tour in 1997, missing the cut in the British Open.
Missed cut in two PGA Tour events in 1999 and two Korn Ferry Tour events in 2000.
In 2002, best finish was T-31st at Tampa Bay Classic in four starts.
2003 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 26; Rounds Played - 90; in money - 19; top -10 Finishes - 3; scoring average 70.49 (rank 34th; money $133,167 (rank 33rd); best finish 2nd Chitimacha Louisiana Open.
2005 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 23; Rounds Played - 67; in money - 10; top -10 Finishes - 3; scoring average 71.36 (rank 76th); money $113,102 (rank 47th); best finish 2nd Canadian PGA Championship.
2006 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 27; Rounds Played - 94; in money - 20; top -10 Finishes - 9; scoring average 69.81 (rank 3rd); money $382,443 (rank 1st); Winner BMW Charity Pro-Am. His top money ranking got him his PGA Tour card for 2007.
He played three years on the PGA Tour, but in 2009 fell to 158th on the money list and finished T-26th, a shot away from retaining his PGA Tour card, forcing him back on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2010.
2010 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 23; Rounds Played - 66; in money - 11; top -10 Finishes - 0; scoring average 70.56 (rank 76th); money $36,592 (rank 118th); best finish T-16th Knoxville News Sentinel.
2011 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 24; Rounds Played - 76; in money - 15; top -10 Finishes - 3; scoring average 69.95 (rank 24th); money $313,241 (rank 7th); Winner Nationwide Championship. His top-10 money ranking secured his PGA Tour card for 2012.
2012 Notes: Paired with 54-hole leader Charlie Wi in the final group on Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am but could not mount a charge with a 2-over 74, finishing T-7th, seven behind winner Phil Mickelson. Shot four rounds in the 60s at the Transitions Championship to finish T-5th (12-under), one shot out of a four-man playoff. He shared the first-round lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (7-under 65) and recorded his third top-10 of the season with a T-7th. He earned his fourth top-10 of the year, with a T-7th at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. His fifth top-10 of the season came with a T-7th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He was as close as one stroke out of the lead heading down the stretch of The Greenbrier Classic before back-to-back double bogeys on holes 15 and 16 left him T-7th. It was his career-best sixth top-10 finish of the season, tying him at the time for the most on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at the first two FedExCup Playoff events, culminating with a No. 76 finish in the FedExCup standings and 57th on the money list.
2013 Notes: Not as consistent as the previous year, he missed 10 cuts in his first 18 starts, but all of that was forgotten with his win at the Travelers Championship. Finished 67th in the FedExCup race and 50th on the money list with a career-high $1,722,583 in earnings.
2014 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 16 cuts. He only had two top-25 finishes, T-15th at the Shriners Hospitals and T-16th at the Hyundai Tournament. He finished 157th in the FedExCup standings.
2015 Notes: Played in 30 PGA Tour events making 16 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was T-4th at the McGladrey Classic, T09th at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, and T-10th at the Travelers Championship. Advance to the FedExCup Playoffs for a fifth time finishing 117th in the FedExCup standings.
2016 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events making 9 cuts with two top-ten finishes. He was T-3rd at the Players Championship and shot a third-round 65 with winds gusting 20 mph. It was also 10.592 strokes better than the field average. Shot 72 in the final round allowed him to jump 47 spots in the FedExCup standings from 194th to 147th, the greatest improvement of any player that week. Four starts later posted his second top-10 of the season at the FedEx St. Jude Classic T-9th. With on to finish 153rd in FedExCup points, outside the top 125 who advance to the FedExCup Playoffs. Earned $773,025 to finish 118th on the money list and remain exempt for the 2017 season, the last time players could retain their PGA Tour card for the next season by finishing inside the top 125 on the money list.
2017 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events making 13 cuts with only one top-25 finish, T-23rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am. For a second straight season, he failed to finish inside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings and advance to the FedExCup Playoffs. Played in the Korn Ferry playoffs but missed the cut in two events and couldn't muster anything in the other two finishing 101st in the priority rankings. So he will play the 2018 season out of the past champion category.
2018 Notes: He played in 15 PGA Tour events and made six cuts. His best finish was T-42nd at the Barracuda Championship. He finished 218th in the FedExCup standings. He didn't fare any better in the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs, only making two cuts in four starts and being T-67th in both. The good news is that he turned 50 in January 2019 and was T-10th at PGA Tour Champions Q-School.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour Champions events with four top-ten finishes. Was 28th on the Schwab Rankings. He made his first PGA Tour Champions start at the Oasis Championship and finished T-49th. He had his first top-ten at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, finishing T-6th, 3 shots back of winner Scott McCarron. He was T-8th at the Shaw Charity Classic. Finished T-2nd at the Sanford International, two shots back of winner Rocco Mediate. At the Charles Schwab Cup Championship was T-21st. He only played once on the PGA Tour, T-62nd at the Puerto Rico Open.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 36 PGA Tour Champions events with four top-ten finishes. Was 40th on the Schwab Rankings. He was T-9th at the 2020 Cologuard Classic and T-10th at the Hoag Classic. In 2021 he was T-9th at the Shaw Charity Classic. Finished T-4th at the 2021 Dominion Energy Charity Classic, three shots back of the Bernhard Langer/Doug Barron playoff.
2022 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour Champions events with six top-ten finishes. He was 22nd on the Schwab rankings and 21st on the money list, earning $855,163. At the Insperity Invitational was T-5th, eight-shot back of winner Steven Alker. Co-led after the first round 65 and sat in second place, entering the final round before finishing T-10th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. He was T-5th at the Senior Players Championship, five shots back of winner Jerry Kelly. Was T-8th at the Senior Open Championship, T-7th at the Pure Insurance Championship, and T-8th at the TimberTech Championship. In the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship was T-22nd.
2023 Notes: Played in 27 PGA Tour Champions events with four top-ten finishes. He was 23rd on the Schwab rankings and 26th on the money list, earning $906,255. Duke finished T-9th at the Insperity Invitational. Beginning the final round two shots off the lead, he birdied the final hole in the final round of his 100th PGA Tour Champions start to close with a 4-under 66 and claim his first title. Duke began his professional career playing on the PGA Tour Canada in 1996. He is the 20th different player to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR, and PGA TOUR Champions. Finished T-5th after posting nine pars on his last nine holes to shoot a final-round 70 for the third consecutive time at the Ascension Charity Classic. Posted three rounds in the 60s en route to a T-6th finish at the TimberTech Championship.
2024 Notes: His opening round 69 placed him at T-4th, two shots off the lead, but a 72-73 on the weekend saw him finish T-5th, five shots back of the winner Ricardo Gonzalez. It marked his seventh career top-five finish on the PGA Tour Champions.: Finished T-10th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic after shooting 68-72-70.