Despite loss, Blanks' career on the upswing again

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Kris Blanks started last week by finding out he had passed Arnold Palmer on the PGA TOUR's career money list and finished it by earning the largest paycheck of his checkered career.

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Blanks was shocked and tickled he had moved past the King. "I saw that on Twitter and I thought it was pretty funny," said Blanks, who's now No. 301 on the all-time list with $2,426,525. "I tweeted back that it was only fair because his career and mine are definitely on the same path."

Blanks could have followed Palmer's path Sunday by claiming the RBC Canadian Open as his first PGA TOUR title (Palmer won the 1955 Canadian Open as a rookie, the first of his 62 TOUR victories). Blanks made a clutch 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but made a double bogey on the same hole 30 minutes later to lose to Sean O'Hair.

Still, one good week had done wonders for a 2011 season in which Blanks missed the cut in six of his first eight events and had to be wondering if his long-awaited stay on the PGA TOUR was going to end after three seasons. The $561,600 check was more than he had made in his first 22 starts combined and ensured his playing privileges for another season after he leaped from 116th to 54th in FedExCup standings.

"It was definitely the week I needed," Blanks said. "I can kind of relax and not play so much because I've got my card locked up for next year. It definitely makes the rest of the year a lot easier."

Blanks had a golden opportunity to win after O'Hair hooked his drive into the rough in the sudden death. But Blanks also missed the fairway and ended up in the same greenside bunker from which he was able to save par during regulation.

This time, however, Blanks' blast carried a bit too far and he was helpless to watch the ball slowly trickle down the hill past the hole and into the fringe. Blanks said he had no choice but to chip the ball -- it didn't help he had three-putted from the fringe three times earlier in the round -- and missed the five-foot bogey putt. It was the only time all week he failed to save par from a greenside bunker (4-of-5).

"Thought I hit it pretty good. It just was a bit too far," Blanks said of the bunker shot. "Right now I'm (upset) and the more I think about it, the more I'll probably get upset at the shots I threw away."

It's understandable why the 38-year-old Blanks was chafed about the result. He didn't make it to the PGA TOUR until he was 36 and he knows his clock is ticking. That's why he has played 14 of the last 15 weeks, only taking the week of the U.S. Open off because he wasn't in the field. Only three players -- Tommy Gainey, another late bloomer, Blake Adams and Josh Teater -- have played in more PGA TOUR events this season than Blanks' 23.

How/Getty Images

Blanks shakes hands with O'Hair after O'Hair won the RBC Canadian Open on the first hole in sudden death.

While the Canadian fans at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club were wowed by countryman Adam Hadwin's fourth-place finish, Blanks also has local connections almost as deep as Shaughnessy's rough. Blanks' wife, Tami, is from the Vancouver area, a star junior golfer who met Kris when they were playing mini-tours together in South Florida.

Blanks also used to have another former Vancouver golf pro, A.J. Eathorne, as his caddie before they parted ways earlier this year. (Eathorne now caddies for Brittany Lincicome on the LPGA Tour.)

Maybe these connections explain why Blanks wore bright red shoes Sunday, one of Canada's national colors. He just needed one more red number to get that elusive first win.

Still, Blanks' career has come a long way since the days he worked as a bartender to help ends meet. In the late-1990s, he and Tami both worked as assistant PGA professionals while Blanks' touring career had yet to materialize. It wasn't until he won a Hooter Tour event in 2002 that he got serious about playing for a living again.

Now he's earned more than $1 million for the second consecutive season -- and more than Palmer earned during his PGA TOUR career. It's good to be King, but just as nice to know you have a job for at least another year.

"This definitely changes things," Blanks said after his second runner-up finish on the PGA TOUR. "But I'm just going to keep playing."

Because that's what he does.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.Hope those trophy kids are patient.