Forty-four-year-old Ken Duke, a true journeyman making his 187th career PGA Tour start in his 19th year as a professional, claimed his first Tour win at the Travelers Championship, defeating Chris Stroud in sudden death.  Following a Saturday 65, Duke began Sunday two shots behind Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman and Canadian Graham DeLaet and, save for a birdie at the par-4 2nd, made little progress early. But after his 10th-hole approach ricocheted off a tree to within five feet for an easy birdie, Duke proceeded to add birdies at the 11th, the 13th (via a 45-foot putt that barely fell in the side door) and the 15th to move ahead of the pack.  Indeed, after a clutch up-and-down for par at the 18th, Duke seemed on the verge of victory, particularly after Stroud’s approach to the 18th missed the putting surface.  But facing elimination, the 31-year-old Stroud holed his 50-foot chip shot and it was off to a playoff – a two-hole contest (contested entirely over the par-4 18th) which saw Stroud get up-and-down from a greenside bunker to stay alive on the first playing, only to lose to a tap-in birdie after Duke stiffed his approach the second time.  Watson, who claimed his first career victory here in 2010, remained very much in the hunt until carding an ill-timed triple-bogey at the watery 16th, and would ultimately finish fourth, two shots out of the playoff and one behind DeLaet, who took solo third.  U.S. Open champion Justin Rose briefly nosed his way into the final-round fray with early birdies at the 6th and 7th before eventually falling back into a tie for 13th...............Having raised some eyebrows with a closing 69 (and an ensuing tie for 4th) last week at the U.S. Open, 43-year-old Ernie Els opened the BMW International Open with a flawless nine-under-par round of 63, then piled on a trio of steady 69s to claim the 25th playing of this long-running event by one shot over Danish veteran Thomas Bjorn.  It was the 28th European Tour title for the South African Hall-of-Famer (counting Major championships and WGCs) and was actually slightly easier than the narrow margin of victory might suggest, as Bjorn recovered from a terribly timed double-bogey at the 14th to birdie both the 17th and 18th, narrowing his margin of defeat.  Els began Sunday in a three-way tie with Sweden’s Alexander Noren and 22-year-old Frenchman Alexander Levy.  Noren would play his first 12 Sunday holes in three over par, ending his chances early and ultimately relegating him to a three-way tie for fourth.  Levy, on the other hand, made an early push into the final-round lead with birdies at the 5th, 6th and 8th, but four incoming bogeys (mixed with a lone birdie at the 372-yard 13th) would eventually drop him into a career-best third-place finish.  That narrowed the contenders down to Els and Bjorn, with the pair standing tied for the lead through 13 holes before Bjorn’s stumble at the 490-yard par-4 14th.  The win was Els’ first since his surprise triumph at the 2012 British Open, a title defense looming quickly on the horizon at the time of this victory...............Twenty-three-year-old Satoshi Kodaira, playing in his third season on the Japan Tour, claimed his first victory at the Japan Golf Tour Championship, a tight, one-shot triumph over a pair of overseas players, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and South Korean veteran S.K. Ho.  Kodaira jumped into contention via a second-round 64 that included a pair of eagles, then added a Saturday 70 to hold a one-stroke 54-hole lead over Aphibarnrat, Ho and Hiroyuki Fujita.  Fujita would fade badly with a closing 77 while Aphibarnrat and Ho would play steady golf, posting matching 70s to stay close until the end.  Kodaira, for his part, seized control early with four birdies over his first six holes, wavered briefly with a double-bogey at the par-3 7th and a bogey at the 9th, then re-took command with an eagle at the par-5 10th which, after a bogey at the 11th, would ultimately provide the margin of victory.  Budding star Hideki Matsuyama, tired after a long trip home from a top-10 finish at last week’s U.S. Open, closed in 67 to tie for seventh – giving him an impressive six top-10s in six 2013 Japan Tour starts...............Winning on the Asian Tour for the first time since the 2010 Taiwan Masters, Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul claimed his second career title at the Worldwide Holding Selangor Masters, played at Malaysia’s Seri Selangor Golf Club.  The 29-year-old Junhasavasdikul carded five birdies during his final-round 70, just enough to overcome four bogeys as he hung on to nip India’s Anirban Lahiri (who made a crucial bogey at the par-4 15th) by one.  Third place was shared by Junhasavasdikul’s countryman Namchok Tantipokhakul (who closed with 65, the day’s low round) and South Korea’s Seuk-Hyun Baek, who rode three front-nine birdies into the tournament lead before a double-bogey at the 16th, followed by a bogey at the 17th, ended his chances.  With earlier rounds of 66-68-71, Junhasavasdikul held the lead on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, technically making him a wire-to-wire winner even if he fell briefly out of the lead on Sunday.