Owen Wilson and Peter Dager Practiced Their Golf Swing for ‘Stick’ to Perfection

Owen Wilson and Peter Dager spent months training with golf’s finest instructors to make the new Apple TV+ comedy-drama Stick, but in an exclusive interview with M&F, the stars revealed why practicing on their own time often resembled a famous scene in The Full Monty.

In Stick, Owen Wilson plays “Pryce Cahill,” a has-been golf pro whose life is spiraling out of control before he meets Peter Dager’s character, ‘Santi Wheeler,’ a teenage golfing sensation with a world of potential. With the show centering around their up-and-down relationship, the two were required to undergo extensive golf training in order that they look great on the grass. To that end, both actors were assigned PGA Tour player, Nathan Leonhardt to help them master their swing.

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“I remember getting the tip from Nathan… just relax,” Wilson tells M&F. “Try to get into that flow-state. But you gotta keep your arm straight.” The Marley & Me star would initially find this advice difficult to adhere to. “But keeping this straight is not relaxed, so you would get a lot of contradictory (advice): Be relaxed but do something that’s very unnatural and rigid, like keeping your arms straight, and so that’s continued for me to be the challenge.” Still, every once in a while, Wilson says he makes a major golfing breakthrough that encourages him to keep trying.

Of course, Peter Dager was expected to demonstrate even greater skills, since the plot is built on the potential for him to become a champion, and to help redeem Wilson’s character at the same time. While Owen Wilson says that replicating the movement of a bicep curl has helped him to improve his own swing, Dager tells M&F that keeping the elbows together and imagining that he is squeezing a ball is one of the best tips that he’s personally received. Still, the reason that Stick works so well is because it is obvious that both men have legitimately fallen in love with the sport, even going as far as practicing in some novel locations.

Owen Wilson and Peter Dager Channeled ‘The Full Monty’ to Practice Their Golf Swing

As the stars of Apple TV+’s Stick demonstrate their respective swing techniques to M&F, Owen Wilson gives a hilarious take on practicing on their own time. “What’s funny is, seeing (Peter) do that, and I was just doing it, you know, I’ve been on planes where I’m kind of waiting to use the lavatory and I’ll start [practicing my swing],” he laughs. “I do it on the subway,” concurs Dager.

“I remember that scene in The Full Monty where the guys were kind of waiting in the queue for their unemployment,” says Wilson “And the music comes on, they start kind of dancing, feeling the music, and there’s definitely that (scenario) with a golf swing where you’re always sort of (finding) and opportunity to sort of practice it,” he jokes. While Stick is seriously emotional yet very funny on screen, the actors also had a friendly golfing rivalry behind the cameras. Anytime something needed to be reset or there was a break in filming, Wilson and Dager tell M&F that they couldn’t resist picking up the clubs to pass the time.

In addition to Wilson and Dager, Stick’s ensemble cast includes Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, Judy Greer and Timothy Olyphant, and features guest appearances from golf superstars such as Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark and more.

Stick will make its global streaming debut on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, with the first three episodes, followed by one episode weekly through to July 23, 2025. To watch Owen Wilson and Peter Dager’s full interview with muscleandfitness.com, see below.