PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Ken Duke has been named the 2006 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year in a vote of the membership, it was announced Monday by the PGA TOUR.

Duke, who led the Tour in earnings with $382,443, won the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs for his first career win and parlayed consistently strong play into top honors on Tour. He had nine top-10 finishes to his credit, including runner-up efforts at the Utah EnergySolutions Championship and the PalmettoPride Classic. He made the cut in 20 of 27 starts.

“Winning the award hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Duke. “I didn’t start out the season with this as one of my goals, but as the season progressed it became apparent that I had a shot at it. To actually have it happen is incredible and an incredibly high honor.

“Being selected by your peers as Player of the Year is the pinnacle and a great way to cap the season off.”

The Arkansas native played the Nationwide Tour in 1995, 2003, 2005 and 2006 and spent the 2004 season on the PGA TOUR. He finished 166th that year on the TOUR with one top-10 finish.

Duke will receive the Jack Nicklaus Trophy in recognition of his achievement and will return to the PGA TOUR for the 2007 season at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He’ll be fully exempt on the TOUR next season and will receive an invitation to THE PLAYERS Championship as the Tour’s leading money winner.

“I can’t wait for the season to begin because I have so much more confidence now,” added Duke. “That is what is so special about the Nationwide Tour — it teaches you how to win. The Nationwide Tour teaches you all of the things that are so important in being able to succeed on the next level.”

Of the 16 previous Players of the Year, 11 have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR, including Tom Lehman (1991 POY), Stewart Cink (1996), Chad Campbell (2001) and Jason Gore (2005).