‘Stick' gathers a rag tag group to mentor the next golf star

Boston Globe

13-05-2025

Then Pryce, a hustler and a schemer at heart, discovers the 17-year-old Santi (Peter Dager), who has serious game, and impulsively decides to cash in everything to try and make him into a star. He coughs up $100,000 (his share of the house) for the right to coach Santi and take him on the road.
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Pryce, his loyal but curmudgeonly former caddy Mitts (
whom Pryce enlists to help out, pack into an RV and head out on the amateur tour. As miscommunications abound and hijinks ensue, Pryce becomes a comedic, big-hearted version of Fast Eddie Felson in 'The Color of Money,' with Santi as his Vincent and Zero as Carmen.
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That's a long way from what happened in Ron Keller's career, but his son sees a strong connection. 'My dad didn't wash out of sports, but made a calculated decision to go into business and it turned out well,' Jason Keller says. Nonetheless, 'in many ways he was the inspiration for this character.'
'I've always been fascinated by gifted athletes who are saddled with high expectations but don't achieve those levels of success and what it does to their psyche, to how they see themselves ,and to their relationships,' says Keller, who wrote '
Exploring how those athletes handle the rest of their lives intrigues Keller as a contrast to America's culture of success. 'Our country is so outcome-focused that anything short of winning championships is a failure,' he says, adding that he tried imbuing the show with a philosophy of not dwelling on past mistakes and understanding that 'the only thing that you can control is the moment you have right now.'
Keller set out to make a comedy about found family that even people who don't like golf will enjoy. For 'checks and balances,' his staff was filled with comedy writers, not golf fanatics; when he'd say something technical about the sport 'five of the seven writers would raise their hands and say, 'I don't understand what you're saying.'' But there were pro golfers on the set every day and 'they were empowered to have a voice, too.'
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The cast, which also features Timothy Olyphant in a guest role, was also encouraged to provide input, Keller says. 'Owen had a real point of view and was always saying, 'What if we pushed the comedy here just a little bit, or pulled back here,'' Keller says, noting that Wilson is the type of star who is 'deep-thinking and emotional, who is able to access a vulnerable place. But he's also a brilliant writer himself.' (Wilson shared a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for 'The Royal Tenenbaums.')
Maron also had plenty of suggestions, Keller adds. 'I didn't use everything, but it led us to something that was better on the page.'
Judy Greer in "Stick."
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Greer, who knows Keller socially, says she doesn't remember chiming in, but adds 'I'm not saying I didn't do that, because I can be really mouthy, especially to my friends.'
She was drawn to 'Stick' partially for the chance to work with Keller and with Wilson —
'I like working with friends and being part of cool stuff so it doesn't always have to be about me or my role' — but she also liked that Amber-Linn 'is compassionate, but not a doormat. I didn't feel like she was like the ex-wife pining. She's ready to move on and she wants him to move on.'
Greer says Keller also left room for the cast to improvise. 'Probably none of it ended up in the show because we're never as funny as we think we are,' she adds. 'Don't tell the writers I said this, but in the end it's usually exactly right on the page and we usually end up back there. But improvising is helpful because you're expanding your character's vocabulary and you're listening and responding to the other actor, so it helps you connect.'
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Dager says finding the right comedic timing is always important, but especially with Wilson, 'who has such a distinctive kind of delivery that you need to be on the same page.'
Wilson was helpful on the set between scenes and also went to hockey games with Dager, a 22-year-old from Miami who had to audition through seven rounds to land Santi, his first big role. (In fact, this was his first-ever interview and he made a point to note that his mother, who went to Emerson College, was thrilled that it was for the Boston Globe.)
Dager definitely did not win the part for his golf skills. 'I had picked up a golf club once before because my mom was getting into it, so I have a video of me just really, really sucking,' he says. He trained for two months after landing the role and says he 'still kind of sucks.' But he says he can now make it look good, and that he became 'obsessed' with actually being on camera swinging (as opposed to a stunt double). 'I got to do that a couple of times.'
He also had to find a way inside Santi's guarded nature. 'He's a pessimist because he's been scarred, but I'm an optimist and love to invite life in, so it was hard for me to find that wall to put up,' Dager says.
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The one thing he relates to easily is Santi's competitive drive, although for him it's about striving to become the best actor, not a PGA champion. 'I've been obsessed with acting since I was eight-years-old, so I correlate his love of his sport to my love of acting,' Dager says. 'Those moments of intensity about nailing it [on the golf course] that he feels, I have in every scene,' he says. 'I'm always thinking, 'I've got to get this. I've got to get this.''