Ken Duke did not play in the U.S. Open last week at Merion Golf Club, but he wasn’t idle.
Duke (Henderson State, Arkadelphia) followed up a tie for 16th at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis with a visit to his swing coach, Bob Toski, in south Florida.
The work done there has been showing up at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Duke shot his third consecutive round in the 60s, with Saturday’s 5-under-par 65 moving him to within two shots of leaders Bubba Watson, Graham DeLaet and Charley Hoffman.
“The guy is a legend,” Duke said of Toski. “He always tells me something different. That’s the beauty of what he does.”
What Toski does is help Duke put the ball in the fairway. He didn’t miss a fairway Saturday after missing only one Friday.
“That’s what I do: I drive it well,”said Duke, who came into the week ranked 95th in the FedEx Cup standings. “So, hopefully, if I can keep doing that, you can attack this place.”
Duke opened with a 1-under 69 Thursday and followed with a 2-under 68 Friday that ended with a double-bogey.
But there were no double bogeys on Duke’s card Saturday, nor were there any bogeys. Duke posted four birdies in his first eight holes to move to 7 under and added a birdie on the par-4 14th. Birdie attempts on 16 and 18 didn’t fall, but Duke wasn’t complaining afterward.
“I’ll take today and go on to tomorrow,” said Duke, who started the day tied for 32nd, seven shots behind Watson.
Duke, tied for sixth, will be in the third-to-last pairing, alongside Australian Nick O’Hern for today’s final round.
Sports, Pages 29 on 06/23/2013