Norm Duke (born March 25, 1964) is an American professional bowler currently on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. He has bowled 58 perfect 300 games in PBA competition (as of the 2010-11 season), including the 15th televised 300 game in PBA Tour history on January 5, 2003.
A native of Mount Pleasant, Texas, Duke resides in Clermont, Florida, with his wife Karen, and their son, Branden.
In 1983, less than a year after turning pro, Duke won a title in Cleveland, OH to become the youngest player ever to win a PBA Tour event (age 18 years, 345 days). On that day, Duke started from the #5 position and defeated four bowlers to take the championship, including a victory over the legendary Earl Anthony in Duke's first-ever televised match.
Duke became a member of the USBC Hall of Fame in 2002, and was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in January 2009. Norm was also the winner of the PBA Player of the Year award in 1994 and 2000.
Duke currently owns 37 PBA Tour titles, including seven majors: one ABC Masters, one Tournament of Champions, two United States Opens, and three PBA World Championships. His 37th title on April 1, 2012 put him in sole possession of third-place on the PBA's all-time titles list. In the 2011-12 season, his career PBA Tour earnings eclipsed $3 million. Duke joined Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber as the only PBA players to surpass the $3 million mark in career prize money. He has made multiple TV Finals appearances every season since 1990. He has won at least two titles in a season nine times, including a career-best five titles in 1994.
The diminutive Duke (he stands 1.65 meters, or 5-foot-5) is known for his exceptional versatility. He is generally thought of as a stroker, either throwing the ball relatively straight or playing a hook shot from the extreme outside of the lane. But he has also shown the ability (especially earlier in his career) to swing the ball out toward the gutter and bring it back like a cranker when necessary. This gives him the advantage of being able to score well on most of the PBA's multiple oil patterns.
Read more about Norm Duke: 2007-08 Season, 2008-09 Season, Awards and Recognition, In The Media, Trivia
Famous quotes containing the words norm and/or duke:
“A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“One of the things I’ve discovered in general about raising kids is that they really don’t give a damn if you walked five miles to school. They want to deal with what’s happening now.”
—Patty Duke (20th century)