Tyler Duncan had his best career PGA Tour finish last weekend, but he thinks he may have made his wife more famous by a golf shot that wasn’t quite up to par.
The Columbus native was playing the par-4 No. 13 in Friday’s second round of the Byron Nelson at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, when he pushed his approach shot to the right of the green. The ball took a bounce and hit his wife Maria in the head.
Fortunately for Tyler and Maria, she wasn’t injured. And fortunately for Tyler, that was one of very few missed shots in the four-day tournament that ended with Tyler in a tie for fifth place.
"It’s been a joke and a laughing point all along," he said. "I think she’s more famous for that happening than for the golf I played throughout the week."
Tyler didn’t know until after Friday’s round that he had hit his wife with the ball. He bogeyed that hole, but recovered to shoot 5-under-par 66 that day.
"After the round, she told me, and I was a little confused because I didn’t see it hit anyone," Tyler said. "She let me just focus on what I was doing. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt or anything."
On Thursday, Tyler opened with a 7-under 64 to put himself in second place in the tournament. He was tied for second following the second round.
"It was huge," he said. "I’ve been struggling this season so far. I haven’t really gotten anything going. I feel like my game the past few months has been good; I just haven’t gotten anything out of it. This was a big confidence boost."
Tyler carded a 70 in a third round that was split between Saturday and Sunday after a six-hour rain delay on Saturday. He then fired a 67 for the final 18 holes on Sunday.
The fifth-place tie matches his tie for fifth in the 2017 Safeway Open.
"Everything felt well," he said. "To compete out on the PGA Tour, everything has to be going really well. There’s only a few people in the world who can compete and not have their A game. It just so happens last week, I had everything working."
Tyler, who returned to his home in Florida this week, will go back to Dallas this weekend to play in Monday’s U.S. Open sectional qualifier at the Bent Tree and Northwood courses. He previously has qualified for the U.S. Open in 2015 and last year.
Following Monday’s round, the 2008 Columbus North graduate plans to visit his parents in Columbus. He will skip the Colonial and Memorial Tournaments, then play in the Canadian Open in Toronto June 6-9 — and if he qualifies — the U.S. Open the following weekend at Pebble Beach.
"My game feels really good," he said. "I’m very confident in what I’ve been working on and the way my game is feeling right now. There’s no reason that if I go out and play the way I’m capable of playing that I shouldn’t qualify."
