Ken Duke is a professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

Ken’s story is one of tremendous resilience. In the 7th grade, Ken was diagnosed with scoliosis. He had surgery to correct the dramatic curvature of his spine and was able to resume playing the game he loved, although not without modifying his swing first. After a strong high school career in Arkansas, Ken played division 2 golf at Henderson State University.

Ken spent the next 20 years floating between several mini tours (including the Nationwide Tour), and the PGA tour. In his 187th start, after nearly 20 years of playing golf professionally, at the age of 44, Ken got his first PGA Tour win.

Ken and I spoke about his childhood, playing golf at a world class level, and the dynamic on and off the course on the PGA Tour Champions.

Ken is the ultimate competitor, and I found it interesting to talk through what it takes to make it at the highest level of golf in the world. I also thought Ken’s story reminded me of the old golf adage “Swing your swing.” Ken talked about how you don’t need to have Tiger’s swing to be a damn good player.