CROMWELL, Conn. - Arkadelphia’s Ken Duke needed 187 starts on the PGA Tour to get his first victory, so what if he needed two extra holes to do it.
Duke, 44, made a 2½ foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to beat Chris Stroud at the Travelers Championship, a tournament that is building a reputation as a haven for players seeking their first Tour victories.
Stroud, also looking for his first title, forced the playoff when he chipped in from 51 feet on the 18th hole after Duke completed a 4-under round of 66 to finish at 12 under.
But Duke (Henderson State) made the better approach shot on the second extra hole, bouncing his ball in front of the flag and rolling it close.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time,” said Duke, who turned pro in 1994 and has played on and off the PGA Tour since 2004. “I’ve been on the Canadian tour, the mini tours, Asian Tour, South American Tour, all of them; Web.com, and it’s just great to be a part of this big family on the PGA Tour.”
Duke is the sixth golfer in eight years to get his first PGA Tour victory here, joining J.J. Henry (2006), Hunter Mahan (2007), Bubba Watson (2010), Fredrik Jacobsen (2011) and Marc Leischman (2012), and it moves him into the upper-tier of the FedEx and money standings.
The victory, worth $1.1 million to Duke, moves him from 104th to 23rd on the money list. He picked up 500 FedEx points to go from 95th to No. 20 in the season-long points race. His updated world ranking won’t come out until today, but the victory is expected to put Duke, currently at 144, inside the top 100, possibly even the top 60, which would make him eligible for the lucrative World Golf Championship events.
“I’ve worked hard,” said Duke, who has more than $8.3 million in PGA earnings, with three second-place finishes along the way. “I’ve knocked on the door a lot and here we are.”
Canadian Graham DeLaet finished a stroke back in third place with a 269. Watson finished fourth, two shots behind, after making a six on the par-3 16th hole.
“You gotta believe in yourself in everything you do,” Duke said. “That’s why those guys at the top are winning week in, week out because they believe they can do it. It’s kind of one of those things once you finally do it it might come easier the next time. That’s kind of the way I feel.”
Duke wouldn’t have been in position to win at all had luck not intervened on the 10th hole, when his ball ricocheted off a tree and onto the green to about 5 feet from the pin, allowing him to make birdie.
After a 17-foot birdie putt on the next hole, he made a 45-footer on the 13th hole, a shot that looked as though it might go past the hole to the right, before falling in.
He battled Watson for the lead down the back nine, until the former Masters champion found trouble on the par-3 16th.
Watson put his tee ball into the water and put his next shot over the green.
He finished two strokes back in fourth place.
“The wind affected the first shot, and the wind didn’t affect the next shot,” Watson said. “I flew it 3 feet past the hole, which you can’t do right now because the greens are so firm.”
Duke, who teed off at the par-4 17th one shot behind Watson, found himself two in front of Watson by the time he was done parring 17. At that point, Stroud and DeLaet were his closest pursuers.
But DeLaet, playing in the final pairing, bogeyed 16 to slip back to 10 under, and after Stroud parred 17, he was the only one with a legitimate chance of forcing a playoff.
Duke reached the clubhouse at 12 under, overcoming a shaky tee shot that went well right and onto a hill, and a second shot that went just over the green. He used a putter to put the ball within 2 feet, then sank the putt as the crowd roared for what they thought was a winning shot.
It looked even more secure when Stroud’s second shot hit near the stick, but then rolled well off the green. That just set up the dramatic chip shot.
Stroud hit his tee shot over the cart path and 94 yards from the hole on the first playoff hole, while Duke’s first shot jumped out of a fairway bunker and into the rough.
Duke bounced his second shot onto the green.
Stroud’s went into a green side bunker.
Stroud chipped to 8 feet but had to watch as Duke’s long birdie putt to win curled away. Stroud made his 8-footer to stay alive, forcing another trip to the 18th tee.
The two both struck the ball well on the second playoff hole, but Stroud missed a 25-foot birdie putt, and Duke made his short putt.
“I had three shots from 94 yards on 18, the exact same yardage, and I could not figure out a way to stop that ball,” Stroud said. “Regulation, luckily, I chipped it in.”
Watson, Charley Hoffman and DeLaet began the day tied for the lead, but 21 other players were within five strokes.
Justin Rose followed his U.S. Open win by shooting 6-under par for this tournament. He was in contention, with two birdies on his first seven holes, but didn’t get another until the final hole and made three bogeys. He said fatigue was a factor.
CHAMPIONS TOUR Stadler birdies 4 to win
GLENVIEW, Ill. - Craig Stadler birdied four of the first six holes, then hung on to win the Encompass Championship by one stroke over Fred Couples by sinking a par-saving 12-foot putt on the final hole.
Stadler’s eight years and almost nine months between victories is the longest stretch in Champions Tour history. J.C. Snead had gone almost seven years between titles from 1995 to 2002.
Stadler shot 1-under-par 71 at North Shore Country Club to finish at 13-under 203. Couples’ final-round 66 put him at 12 under, but he bogeyed the final hole.
EUROPEAN TOUR Els edges Bjorn
MUNICH - Ernie Els won the BMW International Open by one shot for his 28th European Tour title. He closed with a third straight 3-under 69 to finish at 18-under 270 on the Eichenried Golf Club course. Els was in front after the first and second rounds and entered the last day as part of a three-way lead.
Thomas Bjorn of Denmark shot a 69 and finished a stroke back. Alexander Levy of France had a 71 and was another stroke off the pace for his best result.
Leaderboard
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP At TPC River Highlands (Par 70, 6,854 yards) Cromwell, Conn.
Final (x-won on second playoff hole) x-Ken Duke .......... 69-68-65-66-268 Chris Stroud ........ 66-69-66-67-268 Graham DeLaet ... 65-70-65-69-269 Bubba Watson ..... 63-67-70-70-270 ARKANSANS Bryce Molder ....... 67-70-73-67-277 Tag Ridings ......... 68-65-71-74-278 - Complete scores, 5C
Sports, Pages 13 on 06/24/2013