In the sitcom Stick, Owen Wilson plays Pryce, a washed-up Tour pro whose meal ticket is a whiz-kid protege. The show is on the money too.
GOLF: Stick debuted on Apple TV+ in June. What do you think golf fans will love about it?
Owen Wilson: You hear so much that golf is a metaphor for life, and [the show captures] exactly what makes it that: the frustration [but also] the sublime feeling you can get when something goes your way.
G: Would you say you’ve been bitten by the golf bug?
OW: Yeah, I would. I was literally playing this morning.
G: What are the strengths of your game?
OW: I’m a very good putter. If I’m on the green in regulation, I’m for sure gonna two-putt.
G: In addition to taking lessons to prep for the show, you studied the lingo of the game. Did anything stick?
OW: My brother was playing with a couple of [pro] hockey players. One would hit a bad shot and yell, “And for what?!” You know, all the lessons, all the time, all the money, all the practice — and for what? Sometimes there is kind of a Sisyphean quality to golf that you can also sometimes feel in life.
G: Now that you’re playing more regularly, do you have a bucket-list course you can’t wait to get out on and play?
OW: Of course, Augusta National would be incredible, but there was a course in Ireland, Adare Manor, that I saw. It’s where they’re going to have the Ryder Cup [in 2027], and I would love to go. I’m Irish on both sides of my family, so I would love to take a trip with my brothers and play that course and some others.
G: A number of Tour pros — Max Homa, Collin Morikawa — make cameos in Stick. Did you get any special insights from them?
OW: We also had Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley. Obviously, they aren’t actors, but I thought — and I was right — that they’d be able to do it because I find that these professional athletes are performers [and can] sort of steady themselves and deliver under pressure.
G: What’s the best golf advice you’ve ever received?
OW: You can get too hung up on all the technique. Just be an athlete. If you were a kid, you don’t think about how you’re gonna swing a stick, you just do it. When I’m able to do that, I can sometimes produce a good shot.
G: How would you say your relationship to the game has evolved since taking on this role?
OW: It’s something that I was kind of intimidated by because, when I was a kid, my dad was a good golfer and it seemed very serious. It seemed like a very grown-up thing. It seemed like something I couldn’t do — like, I can’t really learn this. I obviously haven’t cracked it yet, but what’s been great is I’ve made progress. And I’m going to keep going because I know I’m on the verge of another breakthrough.
