Diksha Sundriyal
Starring Owen Wilson, Apple TV+’s ‘Stick’ follows the story of Pryce Cahill, whose magnificent career in golf has been reduced to nothing. There was a time when he was the star of the sport, but a breakdown on the golf course has been etched on YouTube forever and has landed such a fatal blow on his confidence that he could never get his career back. With no purpose to give him hope, he recedes into a meaningless existence, that is, until he crosses paths with Santi Wheeler, whose golf skills show such promise that Pryce believes his success could be enough to redeem both of them. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Pryce’s Downhill Trajectory Takes a Sudden Upward Turn
From being an international golf player, Pryce Cahill is now stuck selling golf clubs to anyone with enough money in their pocket. He lives off commissions and is quite a compelling salesman, but that is not enough to keep him afloat. The only reason he has a roof over his head is because his ex-wife, Amber-Linn, has allowed her to stay in the house that used to be theirs. But it has been two years now, and instead of finding his own place, he has turned their former home into a dump. While Amber-Linn cares about him, she also knows that the more he stays in the house, the worse he will get. To help him start over, she is ready to give in $75k, but in exchange, he has to sign the papers so that she can sell the house and move on for good. However, Pryce is too attached to the place to give it up so easily.
With his job paying him barely enough to keep himself afloat, Pryce has found a way to make some money on the side. He sits alone in bars, where Mitts, who others don’t know is his best friend, talks about his heydays and how far he has fallen since. He derides Pryce and challenges him to play for a certain amount of money. While Pryce refuses, someone in the crowd almost always takes pity on him, bets on him, and then, in a purely calculated move, Pryce loses, and the money goes to Mitts, which he splits with Pryce. It started out as something fun, but now Mitts’ words, even though spoken in jest, have started to take a toll on him, and he wonders what he has made of his life. Mitts, who is a grieving widower, points out that there is nothing else to do but move on.
Pryce finds the purpose of his life when he finds a young player, Santi Wheeler, exhibiting exceptional skill in the game. He is unlike any player Pryce has seen before, and the boy’s potential leads him to seek out the boy and later his mother. It turns out that Santi has been trained in golf and has won many championships before. He was trained by his father, who, one day, left him and his mother without a word and hasn’t been heard from since. His sudden departure tore a hole in Santi’s heart, and since then, he hasn’t played golf, at least not in a professional capacity. Pryce decides to change that.
Pryce Makes a Heavy Bet on Santi
Because Santi’s mother, Elena, doesn’t want to risk their security and wants to know if Pryce is legit, she tells him to get her $100k, on top of the expenses of the tournament, from buying the clubs to paying for travel expenses and entry fees, that will be his to suffer. It feels like a small price to pay, but he still needs help. So, he decides to sign the house papers as his ex-wife wanted, but he also hikes the sum that she promised to give him. To assure her that he isn’t losing his mind and has found something worth betting on, he shows her Santi’s game, and she is impressed, not just by the boy but by Pryce’s fervour, which seemed to have been lost since their young son’s death. She decides to finance his trip.
Ready to take on Santi’s responsibility, Pryce also convinces a reluctant Mitts to join them. The day before they are to set out on their journey, Pryce gets arrested for unpaid parking tickets, which causes Elena to reconsider her decision. However, her son convinces her that this is the leap they must make in order to get a better future, so she decides to trust Pryce. As they set out together, the four different personalities clash, but somehow, they make it to the Sparkling Meadows Country Club for Santi’s first tournament. Here, Pryce makes a bet on Santi, unbeknownst to everyone else.
Santi Finds a New Friend
The first tournament wasn’t supposed to be about winning or losing. The intent was to make Santi familiar with the course and see what he is capable of. However, Pryce’s bet leads him to put undue pressure on the boy when he starts to fall behind. In his frustration, he says some things to Santi that hit him the wrong way, reminding him of his father, who abandoned him and his mother. Unable to hear more of Pryce’s chiding, he walks away and crosses paths with Zero, who quit her job at the club earlier that day. She encourages Santi to forget about what Pryce wants and play his own game.
Her words do what Pryce’s couldn’t, and soon, Santi recovers from his losses. He plays so exceptionally that he ends up winning the thing, which means that Pryce wins a couple of grand in the bet he made. Everyone at the club is impressed, and when Pryce tries to apologise to Santi, he completely ignores his so-called coach and leaves with Zero to celebrate the win, leaving Pryce dumbfounded about the whole situation. Meanwhile, Mitts gets himself stuck in the space under the bed in his RV, which forces him to ask Elena for help.
At first, she tries to rescue him herself, but then, the situation is so dire that help has to be summoned. But before that, she makes a deal with Mitts, where she asks him to be more civil with her and Santi. Despite his generally grumpy mood, he agrees that they need to be civil with each other for things to work, especially considering the already tumultuous dynamic between Santi and Pryce. Someone within the group would have to be the one who makes everything work, and with Pryce’s current attitude, it seems that Mitts and Elena will have to assum that responsibility.
Read More: Is Stick a True Story? Are Pryce Cahill and Santi Wheeler Based on Real Golfers?
