Ken Duke charmed the Copperhead course with his equal best score in 30 rounds of the Valspar Championship.

Duke capped his round of a four under par 67 in the very testy and windy conditions when he chipped-in for birdie at the last.

And his reaction to holing out from off the green was worth the admission price into the $US 6.1m championship at the Innisbrook Resort course.

It was the 47-year old’s best score since similar 67s on day two of the 2012 event while the Palm City resident also shot a 67 on day two last year.

And while World No. 1 Jordan Spieth struggled in the defence of his title shooting a shock five over par 76, Duke displayed all his maturity in posting a bogey free rounds of four birdies.

Great shot. Better reaction. https://t.co/ZScVA4MjS8

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2016

“This golf course is so tricky with the wind and tried to keep the ball in front of us and that’s what we have to do here,” he said.

“I got it up and down a few times. Keep the round going. I chipped in a couple times. It was tough. We didn’t try to get too aggressive and just tried to keep it in front of us. That was the key.”

And after missing the halfway cut in first three events of 2016, Duke is delighted to have returned to the form he knows he’s capable finishing T37th in the Honda Classic and now off to a promising start at the Valspar where he recorded a best finish of 5th in 2012.

“It’s great, just wanted to get off to a good day. Haven’t been able to do that. It’s good. It’s good. It’s good to get off to a good start,” he said.

“Lot of golf to be played but it’s always good to get off to a good start.

” I like the course because I hit it straight and you have to hit it straight here. I flight the ball and I have to flight it here because of the wind. My caddy and I went down to see Mr. Toski, got a lot of good work last week. Had a lot of good short game work at my club at the Floridian last week.

“So the big key is you got to be patient.”