One of the feel-good stories in bowling this season got a little better when 54-year-old Norm Duke was awarded the 2019 ESPY Best Bowler Award on Wednesday night.

Duke, a fan favorite everywhere he goes, earned an outpouring of support after he won back-to-back PBA Tour titles earlier this season. The victories made him just the third player in PBA history to win 40 national titles.

“Just to be acknowledged alongside all of the other athletes for superior performance is quite enough for me,” Duke told the PBA. “To win is over-the-top special.”

Duke, who won the very first ESPY for best bowler in 1995, beat out PBA stars Jason Belmonte, Jakob Butturff and Anthony Simonsen to win the ESPY, which is decided on a fan vote.

With his fifth ESPY win, Duke moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time ESPY Best Bowler Award list, breaking a tie with Belmonte and Pete Weber who have both won the honor four times, the PBA reported. Walter Ray Williams Jr. is the all-time ESPY award winner with seven.

The ESPYs and related events benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research in memory of the late Jim Valvano.

List of all-time ESPY Best Bowler winners

2019 – Norm Duke
2018 – Rhino Page
2017 – Jason Belmonte
2016 – Jason Belmonte
2015 – Jason Belmonte
2014 – Pete Weber
2013 – Pete Weber
2012 – Sean Rash
2011 – Jason Belmonte
2010 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2009 – Norm Duke
2008 – Norm Duke
2007 – Norm Duke
2006 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2005 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2004 – Pete Weber
2003 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2002 – Pete Weber
2001 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2000 – Parker Bohn III
1999 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
1998 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
1997 – Bob Learn Jr.
1996 – Mike Aulby
1995 – Norm Duke