What It Takes To Win - Travelers Championship

This tournament was one of my favorites of the season, with a finish that totally caught me off guard.  With Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman and Graham Delaet atop the leaderboard heading into the final round, I thought undoubtedly that it would be one of them hoisting the trophy Sunday afternoon.  Little did I know that it would come down to a playoff between Chris Stroud and Ken Duke.  After a chip in on the 18th hole by Chris Stroud, the two players headed to extra holes.  In the end 44 year old Ken Duke rose to the occasion to capture his first PGA Tour title.  Here's a closer look at hour Duke's tournament scorecard...

• Round 1: 66 (4 under) - 4 Birdies, 11 Pars, 3 Bogeys
• Round 2: 65 (5 under) - 5 Birdies, 11 Pars, 1 Bogeys, 1 Double Bogey
• Round 3: 68 (2 under) - 5 Birdies, 13 Pars
• Round 4: 69 (1 under) - 5 Birdies, 12 Pars, 1 Bogeys
• Total: 12 under par - 19 Birdies, 47 Pars, 5 Bogeys, 1 Double Bogey

Duke played fairly consistently through all four rounds of the tournament, and as a definite underdog was able to keep himself in contention through the early rounds and then sneak into the lead on the final day.  He seemed to get more confident as the tournament unfolded, steadily increasing his distance off the tee from 265 yards on the opening day, up to 295 yards on the final day.  Here's a few more interesting stats from Duke's play at the Travelers Championship.

• Avg Driving Distance: 282.3 yards
• Driving Accuracy: 78.57%
• Greens in Regulation: 62.5%
• Avg Putts Per Round: 26.5 (Avg 1.47 putts/hole)

Congrats to Ken Duke for fending off a slew of competitors all gunning for the victory and winning the Travelers Championship.  

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This article was written by Scott Stevens from Eat Sleep Golf as part of our What It Takes To Win series. This series is focused on taking a closer look at the winning performance of each PGA Tour event to see exactly what it takes to be victorious among elite golfers.

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