Kris Blanks

He lists his dad, who gave him his start in golf, as his hero. With a father in the Air Force, he lived in Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Montana, and Virginia. As an adult, he's called Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland home. It is named for actor/singer Kris Kristofferson. "My mom thought he was cute, and the movie 'The Rose' was coming out at the time she was pregnant. That's where my name came from." Blanks' wife Tami was a former golf professional at Sea Pines Country Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and a former standout on the Ohio State Lady Buckeyes golf team and played in the 1995 U.S. Women's Open. Today she is the golf coach at Palm Beach Gardens High School.
Non-golf-related jobs held include bartending.
Blanks began playing the Korn Ferry Tour in 2005 and played there in 2007 and 2008 as well. In 2008, he won the Bank of America Open, and that victory propelled him to a 13th-place finish on the Korn Ferry Tour money list, earning him his PGA tour card for the 2009 season.
2009 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events making nine cuts with one top-ten finish. It was 168th in the FedExCup rankings. Their best finish was T-7th at the Milwaukee Open. At the end of the year went back to Q-School and finished T-12th.
2010 Notes: Played in 30 PGA Tour events making 15 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He finished 71st in the FedExCup rankings. He was 2nd at the Puerto Rico Open, two shots back of winner Derek Lamely. He was T-5th at the Verizon Heritage Classic, four back of the Jim Furyk/Brian Davis playoff. He finished T-9th at the Travelers Championship.
2011 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events making 17 cuts with three top-ten finishes. It was 80th in the FedExCup rankings. He was T-2nd at the RBC Canadian Open, losing a playoff with Sean O'Hair. He had a pair of T-10th at Crowne Plaza Invitational and Justin Timberlake.
2012 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 11 cuts. It was 141st in the FedExCup rankings. Best finished T-11th at the Valero Texas Open. He went back to Q-School and regained his card with a T-4th finish. Hurt his left-shoulder which prevented him from playing the last part of the season.
2013 Notes: Only played once, missing the Waste Management Phoenix Open cut. Played in four Korn Ferry Tour events, best finish T-17th at the Nationwide Children's. Ever since played off and on both tours.
On the Korn Ferry Tour, he played in 103 events making 48 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He won twice at the 2008 Bank of America and 2014 Chitimacha Louisiana Open. He had career earnings of $560,3444. He has not played on the PGA Tour since missing the cut in the 2019 John Deere.
On the PGA Tour, he played 120 events making 55 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He finished 2nd twice at the 2010 Puerto Rico Open and 2011 RBC Canadian Open. He had career earnings of $3,192,702.
At the end of 2022, he went to PGA Tour Champions Q-School. He won the 1st stage at Buckhorn Springs and was T-40th in the final stage.
2023 Notes: He qualified for the Mitsubishi Electric Classic and, in his first PGA Tour Champions event, finished 7th, nine shots back of winner Stephen Ames.