The Sports Report: Gary Woodland and his memorable Father’s Day

Howdy, my name is John Cherwa and I’m piloting this newsletter for Houston Mitchell as he’s really glad he didn’t take the over in the U.S.-Chile women’s soccer game.

The thing about the U.S. Open golf championship is it almost always finishes on Father’s Day. And with that, one of those heart-warming Father’s Day stories.

Gary Woodland won this year’s U.S. Open and with it one of those stories. Catch the full story by clicking here. Or catch this excerpt from Sam Farmer.

“Gary Woodland won the U.S. Open on Sunday, stepped off the 18th green at Pebble Beach and made a beeline for his parents.

“Swarmed by photographers, he first embraced his mother, Linda, then delivered a hug to his father, Dan, that was so emotional and vigorous it was closer to a football collision.

“‘Thank you,’ Dan told his son at almost a whisper. ‘Thank you.’

“The gratitude goes beyond Gary Woodland fending off back-to-back U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka down the stretch, and beyond the fact the drama came on Father’s Day.

“Ten years ago, Dan’s heart stopped beating for four minutes.

“ ‘We almost lost him,’ Linda said.

“Dan had suffered a heart attack a week earlier while playing golf with friends in Scottsdale, Ariz. He underwent triple-bypass surgery there, and it was the hospital staff that resuscitated him after he went code blue.

“Coincidentally, his son was playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the time, although the elder Woodland had forgotten that part.

“’I don’t remember a lot from that week, to be honest with you,’ said Dan, a onetime star athlete in Topeka, Kan., who married his high school sweetheart and started his own electrical contracting business.

“The past week was unforgettable, however. With the red-hot Koepka in his rear-view mirror, he never surrendered his narrow lead, made a clutch chip on No. 17 that will go down in Pebble Beach lore, and pulled away down the stretch to win by three strokes at 13 under.

“The former shooting guard at Washburn University drained a 30-foot putt on No. 18 to seal the victory, raising his arms in triumph before the ball trickled into the cup. His parents were below the green and couldn’t see the putt, but they could tell from the reaction of their son and the roar from the thousands of spectators that it had gone in.”

Women’s World Cup

Well, U.S. coach Jill Ellis switched out most of her starting lineup and still had no trouble beating Chile, 3-0. It wasn’t the run-up-the-score match it had against Thailand and when Chile seemingly tied the score at 1-1 (except they were offsides, negating the goal), it probably brought some anxious moments.

But, in the end, the U.S. is too good and too deep for a team such as Chile. Now, we get to see how the U.S. team is against a team such as Sweden on Thursday.

As has been the case, Kevin Baxter was there for the U.S. team game. Here’s his full story (just click here) and for those of you who prefer short-attention-span theater, just keep reading.

“The game was in France. But the crowd? Well, it felt a lot like Kansas City.

“With a 3-0 win over Chile on Sunday on the outskirts of Paris, the U.S. clinched a spot in the round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup. And it was cheered there by an overwhelmingly pro-American contingent in the sellout crowd of 45,594.

“Two of the goals came from Carli Lloyd with Julie Ertz getting the other — all in the first 35 minutes — to send the Americans to their group-stage final with Sweden on Thursday with a chance to win the group. It also moved the United States’ record to 19-1-3 all time in Women’s World Cup group play.

“‘The fans that have traveled and what they create for us in terms of support for our players, it’s magnificent,’ coach Jill Ellis said. ‘They had to travel a long way and I’m sure at a lot of expense.’

“And they made their presence known from the start of this tournament, packing tiny Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims for last Tuesday’s opening game and filling hulking Parc des Princes on Sunday.

“’In the first game, we had so many U.S. fans that it almost felt like a home game for us,”’midfielder Lindsey Horan said.

“So did the second game. FIFA last week said it had allocated the majority of the Women’s World Cup tickets distributed — 460,748 — to French fans. After that, more tickets were allocated to Americans — 130,905 — than the rest of the world combined.

“England ranked third with 29,307 tickets.”

Sunday’s results

Sweden 5, Thailand 1

United States 3, Chile 0

Today’s schedule (all times Pacific)

Group B: South Africa vs. Germany, 9 a.m., Fox

Group B: China vs. Spain, 9 a.m., FS1

Group A: Nigeria vs. France, Noon, Fox

Group A: South Korea vs. Norway, Noon, FS1

Group A W-D-L, GD, Pts

France 2-0-0, +5, 6

Norway 1-0-1, +2, 3

Nigeria 1-0-1 -1, 3

South Korea 0-0-2, -6, 0

Group A schedule (all times Pacific)

France 4, South Korea 0

Norway 3, Nigeria 0

Nigeria 2, South Korea 0

France 2, Norway 1

Today, Nigeria vs. France, Noon, Fox

Today, South Korea vs. Norway, Noon, FS1

Group B W-D-L, GD, Pts

Germany 2-0-0, +2, 6

Spain 1-0-1, +1, 3

China 1-0-1, 0, 3

South Africa 0-0-2, -3, 0

Group B TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Germany 1, China 0

Spain 3, South Africa 1

Germany 1, Spain 0

China 1, South Africa 0

Today, South Africa vs. Germany, 9 a.m., Fox

Today, China vs. Spain, 9 a.m., FS1

Group C W-D-L, GD, Pts

Italy 2-0-0, +6, 6

Brazil 1-0-1, +2, 3

Australia 1-0-1, 0, 3

Jamaica 0-0-2, -8, 0

Group C TV schedule (all times Pacific)

Italy 2, Australia 1

Brazil 3, Jamaica 0

Australia 3, Brazil 2

Italy 5, Jamaica 0

Tuesday, Jamaica vs. Australia, Noon, FS2

Tuesday, Italy vs. Brazil, FS1

Group D W-D-L, GD, Pts

England 2-0-0, +2, 6

Japan 1-1-0, +1, 4

Argentina 0-1-1, -1, 1

Scotland 0-0-2, -2, 0

Group D TV schedule (all times Pacific)

England 2, Scotland 1

Argentina 0, Japan 0

Japan 2, Scotland 1

England 1, Argentina 0

Wednesday, Japan vs. England, Noon, FS1

Wednesday, Scotland vs. Argentina, Noon, FS2

Group E W-D-L, GD, Pts

Netherlands 2-0-0, +3, 6

Canada 2-0-0, +3, 6

Cameroon 0-0-2, -3, 0

New Zealand 0-0-2, -3, 0

Group E TV schedule (all times Pacific)

Canada 1, Cameroon 0

Netherlands 1, New Zealand 0

Netherlands 3, Cameroon 1

Canada 2, New Zealand 0

Thursday, Netherlands vs. Canada, 9 a.m., Fox

Thursday, Cameroon vs. New Zealand, 9 a.m., FS1

Group F W-D-L, GD, Pts

United States 2-0-0, +16, 6

Sweden 2-0-0, +6, 6

Chile 0-0-2, -5, 0

Thailand 0-0-2, -17, 0

Group F TV schedule (All Times Pacific)

Sweden 2, Chile 0

United States 13, Thailand 0

Sweden 5, Thailand 1

United States 3, Chile 0

Thursday, United States vs. Sweden, Noon, Fox

Thursday, Thailand vs. Chile, Noon, FS1

Rest of the schedule

Round of 16 matches takes place from June 22 to 25.

Quarterfinal matches are from June 27 to 29.

One semifinal match is on July 2 at noon on Fox.

The other semifinal is on July 3 at noon on FS1.

Third-place game is July 6 at 8 a.m. on Fox.

Championship match is July 7 at 8 a.m. on Fox.

What’s next for the Lakers

The Lakers blockbuster trade on Saturday still left a lot of questions unanswered, especially what will the Lakers do next? Our own Tania Ganguli takes a deep dive into this questions, especially in regards to a third max player. Here’s her full story. What follows should make you want to read more.

“The details of the blockbuster trade that will make Anthony Davis a Laker are still being sorted out. Chief among them: the timing of the trade.

“July 6 is the soonest the trade can be legally completed, and would require the Lakers to trade the draft rights of the No. 4 pick, rather than the player’s contract. It would also leave the Lakers without enough salary cap space to sign another free agent to a maximum contract. If Davis declines to waive his $4-million trade kicker, it would leave the Lakers with a little more than $23 million in salary cap space.

“On the other hand, because of salary cap rules, if the trade is consummated in late July, the Lakers would have the space to add another maximum contract. That cap space could used on players such as Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker, All-Star point guards who will be free agents.

“That scenario would require the Lakers to draft the fourth overall pick for the Pelicans, or whatever team has its rights by the time of the draft, then sign that player as quickly as possible. League rules do not allow a signed draft pick to be traded for 30 days, which would make July 20 the earliest date the trade could be consummated.

“Although the Pelicans are open to working with the Lakers and delaying the trade, it’s unlikely that will happen, according to multiple people familiar with their thinking. New Orleans’ priority will be to make the fourth pick as attractive as possible to another team in hopes of acquiring a veteran player.

“It’s likely that whatever team they trade the fourth pick to will want the player in their building as quickly as possible, and will want him to play at the Las Vegas Summer League, which will be held from July 5-15. If the Pelicans opt to keep the pick, they might also want him to participate in Summer League.”

Odds and ends

Russell Martin delivers winning hit and Kenley Jansen gets save in Dodgers win. … Griffin Canning’s uneven outing and stranded runners doom Angels in loss. ... USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. chases NBA dream to honor a father he barely knew. … Could Tyson Fury be the next dominant force in heavyweight boxing? … Ducks expected to hire Dallas Eakins as their next coach.

Other newsletters

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Our Dodgers newsletter, written by Houston Mitchell. Subscribe here.

Lakers newsletter, written by Tania Ganguli. Subscribe here.

Horse racing newsletter, written by John Cherwa. Subscribe here.

Boxing/MMA newsletter. Subscribe here.

Soccer newsletter, written by Kevin Baxter. Subscribe here.

Today’s local sports schedule

San Francisco at Dodgers, 7 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570

Angels at Toronto, 4 p.m., FSW, KLAA 830

Born on this date

1923: NFL player Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch

1945: Cyclist Eddy Merckx

1948: Baseball player Dave Concepcion

1952: NHL player/coach Mike Milbury

1964: Swimmer Michael Gross

1965: Speedskater Dan Jansen

1967: NFL player Keith Sims

1970: NHL player Stephane Fiset

1980: Tennis player Venus Williams

Died on this date

1987: Baseball player/manager Dick Hower, 51

1989: NFL player/actor John Matuszak, 38

2015: Runner Ron Clarke, 78

And finally

Looking back at Dan Jansen’s gold-medal performance in the Winter Olympics.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.