No disrespect to Charles Barkley, Emmitt Smith or any of the number of PGA Tour pros we’ve had on as guests of The Loop podcast in our 300-plus episode history, but this week we had by far our most-famous guest – Owen Wilson. The “Wedding Crashers” legend is now the star of one of Apple TV’s newest hit shows “Stick,” a golf comedy series that Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, a former pro golfer whose career collapsed after a public meltdown.
As famous as Wilson is, he was rendered a fellow mortal when we brought up his actual, real-life golf game. Instantly, he recalled a recent run of poor form that was immediately followed by a hot stretch that featured a near career highlight on one of golf’s most-iconic short par 4s.
“Last week, after struggling for a month where I was like, ‘I don’t even know how to hit it anymore,’ I had this great stretch where I was really playing well,” Wilson said. “I even drove the green on 10 at Riviera and I was like, I’ve never gotten an eagle. I’ve got a 12-foot putt for an eagle. I missed it, but at least I had a tap-in birdie.”
From any of us, a rather-boring birdie story. From a movie star, we were on the edge of our seats. So, too, was Wilson’s co-star in Season 2, Rhea Seehorn, who plays Amanda, a skilled swing coach who steps in to help Cahill make a run at the U.S. Open. Seehorn, who got lessons for a few golf scenes in another Apple TV show, “Pluribus,” has still not played an actual round on the course. But she continued to hone her swing in a simulator in preparation for this upcoming role in “Stick.”
To hear our full chat with Seehorn and Wilson, who also displayed some impressive golf knowledge in recalling Shane Lowry’s winning Ryder Cup putt at Bethpage Black, please have a listen below. And like and subscribe to The Loop wherever you get your podcasts:
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
