Ken Duke birdies final hole to claim Shaw Charity Classic title

Ken Duke birdied his 72nd hole of the week to win his first PGA Tour Champions title at the Shaw Charity Classic on Sunday in Calgary, Alberta.

Duke, a former Canadian Tour player, made a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club to break a three-way tie and avoid a tiebreaker with Thailand’s Tim Petrovic and Thongchai Jaidee.

Duke’s 4-under-par final-round 66 was enough for a total score of 14-under-par 196.

“I’ve always dreamed of this,” Duke said. “This is where I started my professional career here in Canada, and I always thought I would win here, and here we are. I mean, from 1996 to 2003, so here we are finally doing it.”

Jaidee set the early pace by shooting a 62-under-eight to reach 13-under. Duke played in the final group with Petrovic, who started the day leading by two shots, and the pair were tied at 11-under when they came around.

Petrovic birdied numbers 11 and 13, while Duke birdied numbers 13 and 15 to reach 13-under. On the par-5 18th hole, Petrovic’s second shot went from rough to rough, and he couldn’t recover to birdie. He scored a 69 in the final round.

“Unfortunately on the 18th, I left it raw,” said Petrovic, a PGA Tour Champions runner-up for the 11th time. “I was in the worst spot possible with that pin tight and I had to play left just to putt myself. I almost made it. It would have been nice.”

Duke, for his part, reached the green in three and made his birdie.

“I didn’t see him come in” while celebrating, Duke said. “I knew it was straight, I just hoped it wouldn’t budge. I didn’t see it go in.”

Jaidee’s round included nine birdies and a lone bogey.

“I was surprised today. We had a really low score today,” Jaidee said. “I think we shot low 8 today. I’m very surprised today. I haven’t hit a low score in many, many years. This one especially today, it gives me back my confidence.”

Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke (63), Billy Andrade (67) and Scott Dunlap (67) tied for fourth at 11-under.

—Field level media