“She was the one that got away/The one that wrecked my heart,” Jake Owen sings in his 2011 song “The One that Got Away.”
Owen’s Web.com tour got off to a heartbreaking start Thursday when the country music star shot an opening-round 13-over 86 at the Nashville Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation. Owen started off strong with a par at No. 10, his 211-yard opening hole, but that was about as good as it got at the par-72 Nashville Golf and Athletic Club.
Opening shot of @jakeowen’s #WebTour career.
211 yards, to 15 feet. pic.twitter.com/AkvGikpFqG
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 24, 2018
After the promising opener, Owen failed to get up and down from the bunker on 11 and made bogey. He took two tries to get off the tee at the par-5 13th and made double bogey, then made another double at 16. After three-putting 17 Owen had a tough time getting off the 18th tee, pumping two in a row out of play before finally hitting the fairway with his fifth shot. He went on to two-putt for a quadruple-bogey 9, going out in 46.
Owen must have checked his phone shortly thereafter, because he didn’t take kindly to a tweet from one golf fan criticizing Owen’s exemption into the event. “I’m +11 now and tweeting during my round,” Owen wrote. “I’m playing as hard as I can. I have 8 holes left if you want to come out and kiss my ass.”
No prob Doug. I’m +11 now and tweeting during my round. I’m playing as hard as I can. I have 8 holes left if you want to come out and kiss my ass. https://t.co/UMeFWFKLVP
— Jake Owen (@jakeowen) May 24, 2018
On the course, Owen settled down after the turn, keeping everything on his back nine to bogey or better. He even chipped in on the par-5 7th for par.
“That’s what keeps you going in golf.”@JakeOwen’s first #WebTour hole-out came on the par-5 seventh Thursday @NashGolfOpen. pic.twitter.com/D7ooF41w1a
— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 24, 2018
But despite Jordan Spieth’s advice that Owen “hit driver everywhere,” the artist struggled to keep the ball in play, finding just five fairways and six greens in regulation. And when he sang, “We wrote our names in the sand,” it’s unlikely Owen had in mind going one-for-six from the bunker.
Owen’s 86 left him safely in last place when he finished, seven shots behind former Masters champion Angel Cabrera, who sat in second-to-last with a 79. Sebastian Munoz made an eagle and six birdies en route to a 7-under 65 that put him in sole possession of the lead and 21 shots clear of the field’s most famous competitor.
