Eighth in a series previewing members of the 2014 class who will be inducted Friday into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Ken Duke wasn’t eligible to play in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship over the weekend - only the top 64 in the World Golf Rankings were initially invited (Duke is currently No. 113) - so he took the week off to check in on his new house being built in Florida and play family man.
Duke’s dance card is full this week, though, and that is fine by him.
Duke, originally from Arkadelphia, is preparing to play the opening rounds Thursday and Friday of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., before flying to Little Rock later Friday to be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame at the Statehouse Convention Center. He is planning to leave immediately to head back to work Saturday and Sunday should he make the Honda cut.
“I will fly a private plane back after the second round, go give my speech and fly back for Saturday’s round I hope,” Duke said. “It’s going to be a busy week.”
Duke, 45, was treated for scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, as a teenager, had a 16-inch metal rod attached to his spine, then went on to a successful college career at Henderson State. He turned professional in 1994 and played everywhere from Canada to Asia.
He first tasted success on the PGA Tour in 2004 with one top-10 finish and combined for 10 more in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, including two second-place finishes.
He was the Nationwide Tour Player of the Year in 2006, earning his PGA Tour card for the second time after losing it in 2005, and won that tour’s championship in 2011, earning another trip back to the PGA Tour, where he has earned $8.79 million to rank 160th on the tour’s all-time list.
But Duke’s crowning achievement came last year when he won the Travelers Championship in a two-hole playoff in his 187th career PGA start. The victory preceded his induction into the Arkansas State Golf Association Hall of Fame in November and his election into the state Sports Hall of Fame in December.
He was also named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Sportsman of the Year.
“Ken is a perfect example of perseverance,” said ASGA Executive Director Jay Fox. “It’s great to see things happen to people like Ken who has worked hard his whole life and is now getting his deserved rewards.”
Duke will get at least one more honor this year when he receives the 2014 Ben Hogan Award during Masters week in April. Duke earned his second Masters invite with his victory in the Travelers. The Ben Hogan award is given to a golfer whore mains active despite a physical condition (his scoliosis) or serious illness.
“It was a great year obviously,” said Duke, who won $1.72 million and finished 50th on the money list and 32nd in the Fed Ex Cup standings. “The Arkansas golf hall of fame was a great honor, and the sports hall of fame is bigger. The Hogan Award is pretty big, too.”
He’s had his share of success already this year, making seven of eight cuts in the Tour’s wraparound season that began in October, only missing the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier this month. Duke has two top-25 finishes, is 82nd on the money list and the FedEx Cup standings, but the most notoriety he gained this season came during a tie for 69th at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, Calif., where shots on his final two holes got the attention of the television cameras despite being down the leaderboard.
A chip-in from the rough to save par on the 18th drew cheers from the gallery and a toss of his visor, but the celebration paled in comparison to his hole-in-one on the 17th where his sand wedge from 110 yards hit a few feet beyond the hole and spun back in. One of his playing partners said: “We got to see the dance now,” no doubt referring to the awkward Cabbage Patch manuever Duke performed after holing out for eagle from the fairway at Pebble Beach in 2012.
Duke obliged, and while his performance was no better than Pebble Beach and likely won’t lead to a Dancing With the Stars appearance in the near future, it did lead to some practice at home.
“I don’t know how much I have been able to work on my dance moves,” he said. “I do know I am not going to get better. My daughter has been trying to help me out. But if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.”
The victory at the Travelers showed Duke he had the golf game to compete on the PGA Tour. Finally, he said, the monkey was off his back.
“Once I won I felt like I was part of this big family of winners on tour,” he said. “Before, I felt like I was just another player. Now, it has a different kind of feel. It’s not just about believing in yourself, though. Each day you have got to put in the work. It doesn’t come easy out here.”
Ken Duke at a glance AGE 45 BORN Hope COLLEGE Henderson State RESIDES Palm City, Fla.
FAMILY Wife, Michelle; daughters, Ashleigh and Lauren.
NOTEWORTHY Turned professional in 1994. ... Had first PGA Tour victory in June 2013 at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. ... Inducted into Arkansas State Golf Association Hall of Fame in October. ... Currently 113th in the World Golf Rankings and 81st on this year’s money list at $317,535. ... Is 160th in career earnings on the PGA Tour at $8,792,938.
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/25/2014