Chris Barnes (born February 25, 1970) is an American professional bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), who currently competes on the PBA50 Tour while bowling part-time on the regular PBA Tour. He has also competed internationally as a member of Team USA.
Barnes, a right-handed bowler, was one of the leading professionals on the PBA Tour, where he won 19 titles and over $2.5 million (U.S.) in total prize money during his 28-year career. He has earned at least $100,000 in 14 PBA seasons, including 12 consecutive seasons (1999 through 2010–11). He won the PBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1998 and earned PBA Player of the Year honors in the 2007–08 season. At the time, this made him only the third bowler in PBA history to win both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors in a career, after Mike Aulby and Tommy Jones. Jason Belmonte and E. J. Tackett have since joined that group. Barnes is one of only nine players in PBA history to earn a career "triple crown" (accomplished by winning the U.S. Open, PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions majors). On October 18, 2017, the PBA announced that Barnes had been voted into the PBA Hall of Fame; he was inducted with the 2018 class.
Barnes has rolled multiple perfect 300 games in PBA competition, including the 22nd nationally televised 300 game in a 2012 broadcast of the PBA WSOB Shark Open. He has also won ten PBA50 titles (three majors), 29 PBA Regional Tour titles, and five PBA50 Regional Tour titles. He was named PBA50 Player of the Year for the 2026 season.
Barnes is a pro staffer for 900 Global, Vise Grips and 3G shoes.
Personal life
Chris has been married to USBC Hall of Famer Lynda Barnes ( Norry) since 1999. Lynda is an accomplished professional bowler in her own right who has represented the United States in international competition as a longtime member of Team USA, and currently bowls for Senior Team USA. She is also a two-time winner of the USBC Queens and won the 2008 USBC Clash of the Champions tournament.
The Barnes family lives in Denton, Texas. The Barnes' twin sons, Troy and Ryan, were born in May, 2002. Ryan bowled for his father's alma mater, Wichita State University from 2020 through 2024. In his senior year, Ryan Barnes received a commissioner's exemption to compete in the PBA Players Championship, held that year at Bowlero Northrock in Wichita, Kansas. He made the televised finals as the #4 seed, and finished in third place. Upon the conclusion of his collegiate career, Ryan joined the PBA and qualified as an exempt player for the 2025 season. He went on to set a PBA rookie earnings record with $113,502 and won the PBA Rookie of the Year award. Chris and Ryan are the only father-and-son duo to each be named PBA Rookie of the Year. In November 2025, Ryan won his first PBA Regional title. Ryan is also a current member of Team USA.
Career achievements
Amateur career Barnes attended Topeka High School, and then bowled collegiately at Wichita State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management. He is a 16-time member of Team USA (1994–1998 and 2008–2018), and has also captained the US team in the Weber Cup.
PBA and World Bowling Tours
Barnes currently owns 19 career PBA Tour titles, placing him 18th all-time. His titles include the 62nd U.S. Open, the 2006 Dexter Tournament of Champions and the 2011 PBA World Championship. Winning these three majors makes him just one of nine PBA players to have earned a career "triple crown."Vint, Bill (January 16, 2011). "Barnes Upsets O’Neill to Win PBA World Championship, Complete PBA's Triple Crown." www.pba.com. He had won at least one title in eight consecutive seasons, before being shut out in the 2009–10 season despite four TV Finals appearances. Barnes only needs a USBC Masters title to complete a career "grand slam." He has qualified as the #1 seed in the Masters three times, but has yet to win it.Vint, Bill (January 29, 2012). "Mike Fagan Tops Chris Barnes to Win First Major Title in Alka Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC Masters." www.pba.com. Barnes also owns 29 PBA Regional titles through 2025.
In the 2004–05 season, Barnes posted career highs in average (226.69) and earnings ($194,300) while winning his first major title at the 2005 U.S. Open.
He also won the first two PBA Motel 6 Roll to Riches tournaments in 2005 and 2006, which included a winner-take-all grand prize of $200,000. At the time, these were the two largest prize checks in the history of televised bowling, but the earnings do not count toward PBA totals. The 2006 tournament was held in Lewisville, Texas, a mere eight miles from his residence. Also in 2006, Barnes won the World Tenpin Masters tournament, a non-PBA event that was held in Barnsley, England.
Barnes was the fastest player to reach $1,000,000 in career earnings, reaching that mark in 220 events, easily eclipsing the previous record of 253 events held by Pete Weber and Jason Couch. This record has since been bested by Australian Jason Belmonte, who reached the $1,000,000 earnings mark in only 131 events. Barnes eclipsed the $1.5 million mark in total PBA tour earnings during the 2007–08 season. He was ranked #26 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the last 50 years."Experts select Earl Anthony as Greatest Player in PBA History . Bowlingdigital.com. Retrieved on 2015-04-18.
Barnes along with his wife participated in the 2008 and 2009 USBC Clash of Champions, a special televised event on CBS. Lynda won the event in 2008, defeating Sean Rash by a 258–237 score in the championship match. The following year, it was Chris who advanced to the championship finals, winning the tournament over Rebekah Diers, 257–207. He and Lynda are the only two players to win the USBC Clash of Champions.
Barnes bowled the PBA's 22nd-ever televised 300 game in a semifinal match of the 2011 GEICO Shark Open at the PBA World Series of Bowling (broadcast March 4, 2012).Vint, Bill (March 4, 2011). "Barnes Bowls 300 One Game Too Early; Belmonte Wins GEICO Shark Open for Second World Series Title." www.pba.com.
Barnes won the 2014 QubicaAMF World Cup, and he achieved a televised 300 game in the semifinals before defeating Germany's Tobias Börding in the two-game final, 269–248 and 231–216. He would roll another 300 game in the semifinals of the 2015 DHC PBA Japan Invitational, which was broadcast live on Japanese television as well as on the PBA's Xtra Frame webcast service. Barnes won a 5 million Yen ($43,032 USD) bonus for the 300 game in that tournament, in addition to the 5 million Yen he also won for winning the tournament itself.
On September 30, 2015, Barnes announced he would undergo surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back, forcing him to withdraw from the PBA Fall Classic in Las Vegas, NV, and putting his participation in the December 2015 PBA World Series of Bowling in doubt. The surgery is the same procedure that was done to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, and was performed by the same doctor.
On November 20, 2018, Barnes was voted by his peers to receive the PBA Tony Reyes Community Service Award. Since 2005, Chris and wife Lynda have hosted an annual Barnes Thanksgiving Classic youth scholarship tournament in the Dallas area.
Barnes ranked #4 on the PBA's 2025 "Best 25 PBA Players of the Last 25 Seasons" list. The ranking was based on a points system that took into account standard titles, major titles, top-five finishes and Player of the Year awards. Barnes led all bowlers in the 21st century with 81 standard event top-five finishes and 30 runner-up finishes, while ranking second with 100 top-five finishes overall (including major events).
On April 24, 2026, after missing the match play cut at the PBA Tournament of Champions, Barnes wrote on his Facebook page: "Yesterday I threw my last shot as a full time touring member on the 'kids' tour. While somewhat sad in a few ways, I really am just grateful for 28 seasons of experiences that would've been incomparable to any other life I could have had." He will still continue to compete in PBA50 and Regional Tour events.
PBA50 Tour Barnes joined the PBA50 Tour (for players 50 years and older) in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his fourth event of the 2021 season on June 30, Barnes won his first PBA50 Tour title at the PBA50 Cup major in Lubbock, Texas.
Barnes captured three PBA50 titles in 2022, at the Granville Financial Open in Aberdeen, North Carolina, David Small's Championship Lanes Open in Anderson, Indiana, and David Small's JAX60 Open in Jackson, Michigan.
On July 23, 2023, Barnes won his fifth PBA50 Tour title and second PBA50 major at the PBA50 World Championship, the crowning event of the inaugural PBA50 World Series of Bowling held in Jackson, Michigan. His sixth PBA50 Tour title was again earned in Jackson, MI at the 2024 PBA50 Ballard Championship.
Barnes won two more titles in the 2025 PBA50 Tour season. He won the PBA50 South Shore Classic in (Hammond, Indiana) on July 26, and also won the PBA50 Holman Championship on July 17 at the PBA50 World Series of Bowling III in Jackson, Michigan.
On June 14, 2026, Barnes won the PBA50 FireLake Classic in Shawnee, Oklahoma for his ninth PBA50 Tour title. On August 8, he won the Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions for his second title of the season, tenth PBA50 title overall, and third PBA50 major. By winning, he earned enough points to claim 2026 PBA Player of the Year honors.
Hall of Fame On October 18, 2017, the PBA announced that Barnes had been voted into the PBA Hall of Fame. He was officially inducted on February 17, 2018, as part of the PBA's 60th Anniversary festivities in Indianapolis.
PBA titles
PBA Tour Major championships are in bold text.
1999 Flagship Open (Erie, Pennsylvania) 1999 PBA Oregon Open (Portland, Oregon) 2001 PBA Greater Nashville Open (Hendersonville, Tennessee) 2003 Days Inn Open (Dallas, Texas) 2003 Oranamin C Japan Cup (Tokyo, Japan) 2005 U.S. Open (North Brunswick, New Jersey) 2006 Dexter Tournament of Champions (Uncasville, Connecticut) 2007 GEICO Classic (Irving, Texas) 2008 Bayer Classic (El Paso, Texas) 2008 Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic (Columbus, Ohio) 2009 Don Johnson Buckeye State Eliminator Championship (Columbus, Ohio) 2009 Go RVing Match Play Championship (Norwich, Connecticut) 2010 PBA World Championship (Las Vegas, Nevada) 2012 Columbia 300 Vienna Open (Vienna, Austria) 2013 Lucas Oil PBA Milwaukee Open (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 2013 WSOB Viper Championship (Las Vegas, Nevada) 2014 Emir Cup (Doha, Qatar) 2015 DHC Japan Invitational (Tokyo, Japan) 2018 PBA Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports Open (Lubbock, Texas)
PBA50 Tour 2021 PBA50 Cup (Lubbock, Texas) 2022 PBA50 Granville Financial Open (Aberdeen, North Carolina) 2022 PBA50 David Small's Championship Lanes Open (Anderson, Indiana) 2022 PBA50 David Small's JAX60 Open (Jackson, Michigan) 2023 PBA50 World Championship (Jackson, Michigan) 2024 PBA50 Ballard Championship (Jackson, Michigan) 2025 PBA50 South Shore Classic (Hammond, Indiana) 2025 PBA50 Holman Championship (Jackson, Michigan) 2026 PBA50 FireLake Classic (Shawnee, Oklahoma) 2026 Petraglia BVL PBA50 Tournament of Champions (Morgantown, West Virginia)
Non-title wins 2005 Motel 6 Roll to Riches 2006 Motel 6 Roll to Riches 2006 World Tenpin Masters 2009 USBC Clash of the Champions 2014 QubicaAMF World Cup
Difficulties in televised finals Barnes has often struggled or been the victim of bad breaks in the live televised finals of many tournaments. His 19 titles have come in 87 championship round appearances, and he has finished runner-up 30 times. In the 2000 season alone, he made 12 TV finals without winning a title—to date the most season TV finals appearances without a victory in PBA Tour history.Exempt Player Bios ("Career" paragraph) at www.pba.com. Pba.com. Retrieved on 2015-04-18.