06.10.19: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance

Because it’s Pebble Beach, and Tiger Woods won the last U.S. Open there with an epic, 15-stroke runaway performance, it’s nice to look back at it all 19 years later and remember.
Now, can we move forward?
The 119th U.S. Open may be Woods’ best shot for a 16th career major – and last? – but Brooks Koepka is going for a three-peat in this event, and Rory McIlroy comes off a seven-shot win in Canada, including a 61 in the final round. And Phil Mickelson, who turns 49 on Father’s Day Sunday, the scheduled final round, has to be a factor, having won the PGA Tour event on the course a few months ago. Mickelson is a six-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, most recently in 2013. He is missing this title for a career grand slam.
“There’s not much I could do right now that would do anything to redefine my career, but there’s one thing I could do, and that would be to win a U.S. Open,” Mickelson said. “So if I were to do that, it would change the way I view my career because there are only, what, five guys that have ever won all the majors. And you have to look at those guys differently.
“The difficulty is not the age. The difficulty is that when you’re in your 20s you feel like you have multiple chances. And when you’re turning 49, you’re like ‘I’ve got two more chances, this year and maybe [in 2020 at] Winged Foot [where he finished runner-up in 2006] and that’s about it. With that being the only one in the four that I haven’t won, and what it would offer me and how I look at my career, I put more pressure on it. That’s the difficult thing.
“It would be pretty special to be part of the elite players that have won all four. To me that’s the sign of a complete game. It would redefine my career.”
Mickelson goes off the 10th tee on Thursday at 8:13 a.m. with Graeme McDowell and Dustin Johnson, then at 1:58 p.m. on Friday off the first tee.
Woods, paired with Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose, has tee times of 2:09 p.m. on Thursday at the first tee and 8:24 a.m. on Friday at the 10th tee.
Among the qualifiers is Stewart Hagestad, the 28-year-old USC grad who make his third straight U.S. Open start. The 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion qualified at Newport Beach in a round that included a hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth hole. He was low amateur in the 2017 Masters and was a member of the victorious USA Walker Cup Team later that year. Another member of that Walker Cup team also advanced — Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge, who played at Cal.
The TV schedule:
First and second round, Thursday and Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on FS1; 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Channel 11
Third and final rounds, Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Channel 11
More info: www.usopen.com

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We hoped we could walk away from Hope Solo, but we can’t.
The goal keeper for the U.S. Women’s World Cup team over the last three events, but no longer a roster invitee as the squad prepares for its 2019 event Group F opener against Thailand (Tuesday, noon, Channel 11, Telemundo) and then vs. Chile (Sunday, 9 a.m., Channel 11, Telemundo), inserted herself back into things by saying in a BBC interview last weekend that she doesn’t consider coach Jill Ellis a leader and one who “cracks under the pressure quite a bit. But often that doesn’t matter because the quality of the players on the U.S. team is superb. It doesn’t matter who is coaching us because we will find a way to win. The United States knows how to find a way to win in spite of who the coach is.”
In spite of that, the U.S. team remains a favorite as it looks ahead to its final group game against Sweden (June 19) that leads into:
* Round of 16: June 22-25
* Quarterfinals: June 27-29
* Semifinals: July 2-3
* Final: July 7, 8 a.m.
More info: www.fifa.com/womensworldcup

Also: The CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament begins with the Rose Bowl hosting a Group A doubleheader of Canada vs. Martinque at 4:30 p.m., followed by top-seeded Mexico vs. Cuba at 7 p.m. (both on FS2 and Univision). The second-seeded U.S., winners in 1991, ’02, ’05, ’07 and ’13, begins defense of its ’17 title when it plays its Group D opener against Panama on June 18 in St. Paul, Minn.
Again, looking ahead:
* Quarterfinals: June 29-30 in Houston and Philadelphia
* Semifinals: July 2-3 in Glendale, Ariz., and Nashville
* Final: July 7 in Chicago
More info: www.goldcup.org

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The Angels and Dodgers only get four head-to-head meetings, split up between the two ballparks.
If you’re looking for ways to do inter-league better, these two should have at least a full three games at each park, and another at a neutral site. Let’s say, Long Beach.
Anaheim has the first of the two parties — Monday with Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-1, 1.35) vs. Griffin Canning (2-2, 3.52) and Tuesday with Kenta Maeda (7-2, 3.48) vs. Felix Pena (3-1, 4.53) at 7:07 p.m., SportsNet LA and Fox Sports West.
How the rest of the week lays out this week for the Dodgers, 45-21, 11 games up in the NL West after winning four of six on last week’s road trip (and taking two one-run losses):
* vs. Chicago Cubs, at Dodger Stadium, Thursday (Jon Lester vs. Clayton Kershaw) at 7:10 p.m., SNLA; Friday (Kyle Hendricks vs. Rich Hill) at 7:10 p.m., SNLA; Saturday (Yu Darvish vs. Walker Buehler) at 6:10 p.m., SNLA and Channel 5; Sunday (Jose Quintana vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu) at 4:05 p.m., ESPN
How the rest of the week lays out this week for the Angels, 31-35 and 13 ½ back in the AL West after a 2-4 week at home:
* At Tampa Bay, Thursday (Tyler Skaggs vs. TBD) at 4:10 p.m.; Friday (TBD vs. Blake Snell) at 4:10 p.m.; Saturday (TBD vs. Charlie Morton) at 10:10 a.m.; Sunday (Griffin Canning vs. TBD) at 10:10 a.m., all on Fox Sports West

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You really think it’s over for the Golden State Warriors? The two-time defending champion Warriors?
Facing an elimination game in Canada, and needing to win two of the next possible three on the road?
Kevin Durant didn’t limp after a Sunday workout with the team, a month after suffering a calf injury.
“It’s just a matter of, can you win one basketball game right now?” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “Can you go out tomorrow, play an amazing 48 minutes, quiet this crowd that’s going to be probably unbelievable tomorrow, and slow down a team that’s been playing amazing, especially these last two games, and just win one basketball game and take it from there? And if we focus on that mission, our history kind of speaks for itself in terms of being able to get that done.
“Just win one basketball game, and then we’ll worry about the rest.”
* Game 5: Golden State at Toronto, Monday at 6 p.m., Channel 7
* Game 6: Toronto vs. Golden State at Oakland, Thursday at 6 p.m., Channel 7, if necessary
* Game 7: Golden State at Toronto, Sunday at 5 p.m., Channel 7, if necessary

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A seventh game in the Stanley Cup Final is necessary.
Because the St. Louis Post-Dispatch messed it up.
In a letter published by the paper Sunday, Blues owner Tom Stillman thanked his fans after “the elation of breaking through and bringing St. Louis its first-ever Stanley Cup.”
One problem: The Blues haven’t actually won the Stanley Cup yet. The letter, as well as a few congratulatory advertisements, appeared in the digital edition of the newspaper hours before the team was scheduled to play Game 6.
The ad pages were visible in the subscribers-only E-edition of the paper and were removed. But not before more than a few readers noted them, and they hit social media.
Beth O’Malley, online content coordinator for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, said that “in preparation for the outcome of the Stanley Cup Final, some of our readers got a sneak peek at what our advertisers are hoping to say to the Blues, the fans and St. Louis. We apologize for the sneak peek and hope to share their messages with everyone very soon!”
Sacrebleu.
Series over. In Boston. On Wednesday.
* Game 7: St. Louis at Boston, Wednesday at 5 p.m., Channel 4

* The WNBA Sparks continue a stretch of playing five of their first six games on the road by heading over to Arizona to face Phoenix (Friday, 7 p.m., CBSSN) before coming back to Staples Center the next night vs. New York (Saturday, 7 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet)
* Without UCLA advancing to the final eight of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., you’ll need to find a new rooting interest. Give us Vanderbilt and Kumar Rocker, against Michigan, Louisville, Texas Tech, Mississippi State and Florida State (with the winner of Monday’s Auburn-North Carolina and Mississippi-Arkansas super regional decisive games added to the bunch). More info: www.ncaa.com/brackets/baseball