Jake Owen Had a Nightmare Pro Golf Debut

There have been several celebrities that have gotten exemptions to play on professional golf tours this season. From Steph Curry to Tony Romo, stars from other areas have put their golf skills to the test against top tier talent.

The latest celeb to get this honor was Jake Owen. Owen, a country singer by trade, has been around the golf world before, and is pretty good friends with John Daly. In fact, a video of Owen and Daly doing a duet to “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” went viral awhile ago.

Owen is no slouch on the course, however, as he has a career handicap of one.

Jake Owen hits his third shot on the 11th hole during the first round…

Jake Owen hits his third shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the Nashville Golf Open at the Nashville Golf and Athletic Club on May 24, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

That handicap and good relations with the golf world earned him a sponsor exemption into the Web.com Tour’s Nashville Golf Open. But unlike Curry and Romo who came before him, Owen hit some real struggles. After hitting his first shot in the tournament within 15 feet of the cup, everything went downhill. Owen ended up shooting ten over on the front nine.

With a celebrity in the tournament, it obviously drew a lot of attention to the tournament fundraiser. With that attention came a lot of TV coverage being placed on Owen. And since he was playing so terribly, fans did not like the fact that they had to watch Owen struggle while others began to take the lead in the event. One fan in particular really poured it on Owen.

@DougWalker21 took to Twitter to voice his frustration, criticizing the tournament’s decision to give Owen an exemption in the first place. Walker tagged Owen in the tweet and didn’t expect a response. Owen, however, replied to the tweet while he was still on the course!

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

Owen updated the angry fan, telling him that he was now 11-over and reminded the fan that he had 8 holes left if he wanted to go beat him up. An ultimate burn.

While the response to this was pretty funny and generated even more publicity for the event, we can’t ignore how poor Owen played. Maybe the golf tours should take this as a wake up call, and become more selective with who they give exemptions to in the future because not everyone will play as well as Steph Curry.

Cover Image via Instagram