[3] A native of Mount Pleasant, Texas, Duke resides in Clermont, Florida, with his wife Karen.

5 seed and worked his way up the stepladder, defeating the other four bowlers to take the championship, including a victory over the legendary Earl Anthony in Duke's first-ever televised match.

Duke's career PBA Tour earnings eclipsed $3 million in the 2011-12 season, making him just the third PBA bowler at the time (along with Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber) to surpass the $3 million mark in career prize money.

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.

The 2007-08 season started slowly for Duke, as he battled illness on top of a series of injuries through the first half.

Standing 51st in points and with his Tour exemption in jeopardy, he put together a furious finish by winning two majors in the final five weeks of the season.

Then on March 30, he won the U.S. Open and joined Mike Aulby and Billy Hardwick as the only bowlers to ever complete the coveted PBA "Grand Slam," in which a PBA bowler wins the U.S. Open, World Championship, Tournament of Champions, and USBC Masters at least once in a career.

On April 5, 2009, Duke narrowly missed an opportunity to become just the fifth bowler to repeat as champion at the U.S. Open.

A month shy of his 55th birthday, Duke became the third oldest player to win a standard PBA Tour event, behind John Handegard (57) and Buzz Fazio (winner of two titles at age 56).

[1] In 2019, Duke posted the most cashes (20) and match-play appearances (17) on the PBA Tour since his 2005 season, and his highest earnings since 2008.

Duke's departure from the PBA Tour was met with much emotion from bowlers and fans alike, so much so that the hashtag #ThankYouNorm began trending throughout the community shortly before he made his final TV appearance.

[15] The latest victory made Duke one of eight players in history to win a PBA Tour or PBA50 Tour title in five different decades, joining Dick Weber, Dave Soutar, Johnny Petraglia, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete Weber, Parker Bohn III and Amleto Monacelli.