Why Pryce Cahill's Golf Career Ended In Stick

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Stick season 1, episode 4.Owen Wilson’s Pryce Cahill in Stick had his golf career unceremoniously ended, and the Apple TV+ sports comedy just explained why. Owen Wilson leads the cast of Stick as Pryce Cahill, a washed-up professional golfer with a gambling problem. After meeting Santi (Peter Dager), however, Pryce decides to help the young golf prodigy hone his game and become one of the great golfers in the entire sport. The entire story of Stick revolves around the fact that Pryce’s own professional golf career ended suddenly, and Stick episode 4 just revealed how that happened.

Many of the reviews for Stick have cited the show’s heartwarming, wholesome story as a highlight of the entire series. While Stick certainly is a feel-good comedy, there are also some very dark parts of Pryce, Santi, Elena (Mariana Treviño), and Mittsy’s (Marc Maron) pasts. The reason Pryce stopped playing golf is one such example of Stick‘s darker side. Luckily, however, Stick is also giving Pryce a chance to smooth over some of his past mistakes and find a way to heal from the pain he’s had, such as the reason he was banned from professional golfing.

Pryce Lost His Tour Card After His Behavior At TPC Sawgrass In 2009

Without His Tour Card, Pryce Wasn’t Allowed To Play Professional Golf & His Reputation Took A Major Hit

Stick had already revealed that Pryce had a major breakdown at the TPC Sawgrass Invitational in 2009, but the latest episode confirmed that moment was the end of his professional golf career. Because of his breakdown at Sawgrass, Pryce lost his tour card and his ability to play in professional golf tournaments. In the PGA, a tour card is essentially an invitation given out to the top 125 golfers in various professional tournaments (via PGA). There are exceptions, but generally speaking, without a tour card, a golfer can’t compete in PGA events. That locks them out of the main bulk of professional golfing.

Pryce Punched Fellow Golfer Clark Ross After He Brought Up His Deceased Son, Jett

Ross Won The Sawgrass Invitational & Said Something That Made Pryce “Feed Him His Teeth”

As Mittsy explained to Elena, Pryce wasn’t just throwing a temper tantrum at Sawgrass. The Sawgrass invitational happened shortly after Pryce’s four-year-old son, Jett, died of cancer. Mittsy said that golf was the only thing keeping Pryce together after Jett’s death, but his poor performance at Sawgrass was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Pryce broke down and let all his grief and trauma spill out in public, and as he mentioned earlier in Stick season 1, the worst day of his life turned into a YouTube clip.

To make matters worse, Pryce’s playing partner, Clark Ross (Timothy Olyphant), also had something to say. Ross won the Sawgrass invitational, and in the locker room after Pryce’s breakdown, he said something about Jett. Mittsy didn’t reveal exactly what Ross’ words were, but they were mean and insensitive enough to get Pryce to punch Ross in the face and “feed him his teeth.” Then, since Pryce had used physical violence against another player, he had his tour card revoked. His reputation only got worse because of the fight with Ross, and his golf career was effectively over in a single bad day.

Can Pryce Ever Play Professional Golf Again?

Pryce Could Appeal His Suspension, But The PGA Isn’t Very Forgiving In Real Life

Pryce had his tour card revoked in 2009, but many viewers may wonder if he can earn it back by the end of Stick. Unfortunately, the question is quite complicated. We don’t know the exact circumstances of Pryce’s situation, having only heard it second-hand through Mittsy, but it doesn’t look good. Using physical violence against another golfer would likely be grounds for a lifetime ban from pro golfing, so Pryce’s odds of playing again are very slim. Even with the extenuating circumstances of Jett’s death, the PGA wouldn’t let him play again and damage the brand and the association’s reputation.

There is, however, a chance. There is an appeals process for bans and suspensions from the PGA, and Pryce could make a case that he was under enormous emotional stress and enough time had passed for him to deserve a tour card again. General knowledge of mental health struggles have completely evolved in the 16 years since 2009, and the PGA may hypothetically be more understanding now. That being said, real golfers have been permanently banned for much less than punching an opponent, and the odds are that Pryce would never be able to play golf again in Stick.

Stick

7/10

Release Date

June 4, 2025

Network

Apple TV+

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