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Chris Como, in talking about the practice method of “a lot of people,” describes it as divided. Ninety minutes, for example, might be broken up into 30 minutes for chipping, 30 minutes for putting and 30 minutes for hitting balls.

Then there’s one of his former clients.

And what are Como’s thoughts on Tiger Woods’ practice approach?

“Really interesting.”

Talking on the latest episode of the “On the Mark Podcast,” the GOLF Top 100 teacher had been asked by host Mark Immelman whether he had a story on Woods’ work ethic, and the question was understandable, as Como worked as Woods’ coach from 2014 to 2017. The exchange can be found by clicking on the video below, and below that will be some additional thoughts.

What was Tiger Woods’ work ethic like?

To that question, Como talked glowingly.

“Even in a window where he was hurt, he would just do everything he could to fight through it,” he said on the podcast. “It was one of the more remarkable things I’ve ever seen just from a human level where I know the type of pain he was in and how injured he was and how kind of difficult the whole back situation was for him. And he just kept fighting. Like 99.9 percent of all the people in the world would probably just be like, ‘Look, I’m good. I’ve won 14 majors, made X amount of dollars. I’m good.’ And he just kind of kept at it.

“And then to win the Masters in 2019, that was just one of the more special moments in sports, I think. So, yeah, it was remarkable to be around him and just that no-quit kind of mindset. His work ethic was incredible. He fought through a lot of pain and kept at it.”

The takeaway: If you’re a Woods fan, this is part of what drew you to him.

But how did Tiger Woods work?

Not like “a lot of people,” Como said on the podcast. As you might expect from a 15-time major winner.

Away from tournaments, Woods would focus on one part of his game during practice, Como said. And only one part.

“One of the things I thought was really interesting,” he said, “the way he would practice, especially when it was away from a tournament, would be he would take a whole afternoon and just do short game or take a whole afternoon and just putt.

“So a lot of people subscribe to, ‘I’m going to do 30 minutes chipping, 30 minutes putting, 30 minutes hitting balls’ — whatever it is — and they break an X-amount-of-hour window with all the different facets of the game. He would do that when it came to tournament prep, but if he had a window off, he would spend a huge chunk with one part of the game.

“And it was almost like he was experimenting and learning, and having that big window gave him that ability to go deep into a subject, right, like hitting short game shots or whatever. And I thought that was really interesting that he was, at that time in his career, still, in a sense, learning things. That was an interesting sort of observation.”

Bottom of the league in goals scored and goal differential, the Calgary Flames are now the NHLâ€s last-place team.

They canâ€t score, they canâ€t defend.

Thereâ€s no sugar-coating where this beleaguered bunch sits a mere half-dozen games into the season, losing five in a row to sit 1-5.

And the road ahead doesnâ€t get any easier, facing Winnipeg in two of their next three games.

A 6-1 beating in Vegas on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday added to the frustration of an already-challenging start, especially since the effort of several players was called into question.

Coach Ryan Huska, whose players rarely shortchange him on heart, said half his forwards didnâ€t give the sort of effort expected.

Captain Mikael Backlund agreed the group didnâ€t show near enough fight after an evenly played first period saw the Flames down 3-1.

“The battle has pretty much been there from the boys, but tonight I donâ€t think it was up to our standards,†said Backlund.

The harshest criticism came from HNICâ€s Kevin Bieksa, who blasted Yegor Sharangovich for failing to finish a check on William Karlsson late in the game.

“I would absolutely lose my mind if I saw that on the bench,†said Bieksa.

“Thatâ€s a culture thing for me. I would show that clip in practice and say, ‘where are my guys that care?†Play the guys that care. If youâ€re going to get an effort like that, get rid of him. Youâ€re disgracing the NHL with an effort like that. Be a little mad. Hate to lose. That guy doesnâ€t hate to lose.

“You have so many good young players … you have a young nucleus and you canâ€t have them poisoned by that type of behaviour.â€

More takeaways from (another) nightmare in Vegas:

After missing the first five games of the season due to a pre-season injury, Jonathan Huberdeau returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact with a power-play goal three minutes in. Banging in a rebound on the power-play to tie the game 1-1, it kickstarted an evening in which the teamâ€s best playmaker did well to inject some energy into the top line with Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee. Â

“You need your best players to be your best players every night and I thought the Kadri, Huberdeau, Farabee line was excellent for us tonight, consistently,†said Huska.

“They had the puck a lot and were dangerous. The challenge becomes, itâ€s everybody. You canâ€t rely on the one group of guys. I donâ€t think we had enough other players that were as engaged as that line.â€

Huberdeau said his club isnâ€t playing as a unit, trying too hard to do things individually.

“Right now itâ€s just too easy against us,†said Huberdeau, whose club allowed Mark Stone and Jack Eichel to pile up four points apiece.

“Weâ€re leaving the best player on the other team wide open. Weâ€ve got to be harder on these guys.â€

Go ahead and try to blame Dustin Wolf on any of the five goals he was beaten on, but youâ€d be wrong to do so.

Still, after being beaten five times on 19 shots, Wolf gave way to Devin Cooley for the third period.

It was a salient move given the rigorous schedule ahead this week, with Winnipeg in town Monday, Montreal visiting Wednesday and a return trip to Winnipeg on Friday.

Cooley was spectacular in his season debut Wednesday in Utah, and was solid again Saturday, victimized only once by a Vegas power play that finished three-for-three on the night. He stopped eight of nine shots.

Having taken note of a high hit Colton Sissons made on Zayne Parekh when these two teams met four nights earlier, Ryan Lomberg took the opportunity to let the Vegas forward know it didnâ€t sit well with the Flames.

Two minutes in, to the surprise of no one, the two decided to settle the score.

Six minutes later, the Golden Knights took exception to a heavy Adam Klapka hit on Zach Whitecloud when Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with the big Flames winger.

“The (Connor) Zary line, with Lomberg and Klapka, I thought gave us a great effort tonight – two good fights from the two guys on that line but we didnâ€t have much from the other two lines tonight,†said Huska.

“Weâ€re in a stretch right now where weâ€re not playing poorly – I thought tonightâ€s game got away from us for sure – but itâ€s the consistency our team has to play with for a full 60 minutes. We need to be more committed and more detailed for a full 60 minutes for more than weâ€ve shown this year.â€

There was good news on the farm, where rookie Matvei Gridin scored his first AHL goal in his first AHL game just 37 seconds into the contest Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. Hunter Brzustewicz also scored his first of the season, although the Wranglers fell 5-4 in OT.

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The 2025-26 NBA season is here! Over the next few weeks, we’re examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises — from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.

2024-25 finish

• Record: 30-52 (11th in the East, missed playoffs)

Offseason moves

• Additions: Collin Murray-Boyles, Sandro Mamukelashvili

• Subtractions: Chris Boucher

(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The Big Question: What are the Raptors even doing?

For a while there in a post-championship haze it looked like the Raptors might embrace a traditional rebuild in the absence of Kawhi Leonard, tanking the 2020 season and scoring Scottie Barnes with the No. 4 overall pick. Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby all left from the rubble for little in return.

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What the Raptors did get from the New York Knicks for Anunoby was RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, to whom Toronto has committed a combined $269.5 million. Along with Barnes and Jakob Poeltl, who are also owed a combined $306.3 million, Barrett and Quickley have formed the foundation of a team that has won a total of 55 games over the past two seasons. They are building toward the middle of the pack.

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

So, last season they traded for an injured Brandon Ingram, leaning further into mediocrity. When healthy, Ingram is a very good player, even an All-Star at his best, but he does not move Toronto’s needle much closer to championship contention. And they paid him as if he did, giving Ingram a $120 million extension.

This team has talent. The ceiling of that talent is a team that can make the playoffs and compete in a first-round series. Beyond that, though, there are no lofty expectations for them this year and beyond.

A harsh take but a fair one. One could make the argument that each of their five highest-paid players is not worth his contract. If when combined they are still a middling team, they certainly are not meeting their value as one of the league’s 10 highest payrolls that is being paid to vie for a conference finals.

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And what value do those players have on the trade market? It is hard to imagine a team believing it is a Barnes or Barrett or Ingram or Poeltl or Quickley away from a championship, especially at each price tag.

So, what are the Raptors doing? They have collected all this talent, letting good players walk for other players who have made them worse than they were when they were winning 50 games a year under Lowry and DeMar DeRozan’s stewardship. At least that team had reason to believe it was a piece away.

[Get more Raptors news: Toronto team feed]

This team does not have that. Toronto is several pieces away from relevancy, and it will be head coach Darko Rajaković’s job to convince his team otherwise. The NBA’s middle can be a dark place to be when one direction (the bottom) feels easier to attain than the other (the top). Rajaković must convince his charges that they are building toward something, not just the middle, even if intuition says otherwise.

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Do not get this analysis wrong. There is the very real possibility that the Raptors are greater than the sum of their parts, as those Lowry and DeRozan teams often were, especially in this Eastern Conference. It is just that the greatest sum of those parts is still several levels away from championship contention.

Best-case scenario

Ingram remains healthy and drives the offense from the bottom of the rankings. Barnes’ development pushes the roster further forward, and everyone starts to believe in the ability of this group. Gradey Dick improves in his third season, and this year’s first-round draft pick, Collin Murray-Boyles, is a revelation. The Raptors compete for a guaranteed playoff spot, and fans can believe in the future of this team again.

If everything falls apart

Barnes’ development continues to stagnate. Ingram’s impact is not what Toronto pictured when it traded for him, and the pick they dealt for him — the Indiana Pacers’ first-round selection in 2026 — yields real value. Meanwhile, the Raptors are bad enough to make the lottery but too good to secure an elite pick. They are stuck in the NBA’s middle, and that is not even enough to emerge from the play-in tournament.

2025-26 schedule

• Season opener: Oct. 22 at Atlanta

Believe in Rajaković’s ability to hold this team together, as he coaches for his job. Take the over.

More season previews

East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards

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West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz

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There is another world, not so very different from this one, in which Newcastle took the pragmatic decision early in the summer that Alexander Isak was leaving, there wasnâ€t much they could do about it, and they might as well make the best of it: selling players at a profit, after all, is just what clubs on the rise have to do.

That was always true to an extent, but has become especially so in a world governed by profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). They could have taken the £125m, bought players at their leisure, and the sense going into the season would probably have been one of quiet satisfaction at a decent summer.

There has, at least, been an attempt to address some obvious issues in the squad. Callum Wilson was getting old; Yoane Wissa is not only an upgrade but his pace and capacity to pull wide make him a more natural fit for the dynamic counterattacking approach Eddie Howe favours.

Anthony Elanga brings pace and directness on the right and is probably a step up from Jacob Murphy. Jacob Ramsey adds to their creative options. There may be a sense that Malick Thiaw has not quite kicked on as many hoped he would when he first emerged at Schalke but, at 24, heâ€s a good young defender who adds depth and may yet develop.

Alexander Isakâ€s goal at Wembley helped Newcastle to Carabao Cup glory – but that triumph has a slight taint now. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

The shadow of Isak, though, and more specifically the acrimonious nature of his departure, hangs over everything. Is Nick Woltemade better than Isak? Obviously not. But is Woltemade plus Wissa potentially better in a year or two than Isak plus Wilson? Possibly.

In terms of transfer value, the two pairs roughly cancel (while opening up significant PSR headroom given the nature of amortisation). But because so much emotional energy was invested in keeping Isak, Newcastleâ€s season has begun in a funk: not great, not terrible, but dominated by three 0-0 draws that have highlighted the absence of a high-class centre-forward.

Even the Carabao Cup triumph has a slight taint now. How can fans settle down to watch a rerun knowing the clinching goal was scored by somebody many would be dismissing as a rat just a few months later?

It is both the blessing and the curse of the big one-club, post-industrial cities of the north that the identification of club and city is so strong. Thatâ€s why that victory at Wembley in March stimulated such a feeling of civic pride, but also why Isak provoked such strong reactions: in rejecting Newcastle United, he was also rejecting the city and its people.

What Newcastle are going through now is the equivalent of a painful break-up, reminders of lost love materialising at every turn. That feeling is likely to be particularly acute on Sunday as they face Arsenal, against whom Isak excelled last season. He scored the winner in the league at St James†Park – a glorious header from Anthony Gordonâ€s outswinging cross – and then in both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final.

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Isak was not local but had been taken to local hearts, an emblem of a possible future competing with the very best

Arsenal did beat Newcastle in May, when Isak was absent, but Newcastleâ€s physicality unsettled them in the first three meetings of the campaign. They also beat Arsenal 1-0 at home the previous season, a series of games that has seemingly contributed to Mikel Artetaâ€s adoption of an increasingly physical and cautious approach.

Woltemade did score the winner against Wolves and has produced enough nice touches while sporting distinctive facial hair to raise the possibility he could become a cult figure, but – assuming he starts – facing Gabriel Maghalães and William Saliba or Cristhian Mosquera is a whole new level of challenge.

Why, then, given the near-inevitability of Isakâ€s departure and the futility of keeping a player against his will, and the fact his sale could have been made into a positive, creating PSR headroom for significant spending, did Newcastle wait until the last minute to take the money?

On one level it was simply a failure of leadership. With the sporting director, Paul Mitchell, having left in June, there was a vacuum, nobody to make the decision or to present the boardâ€s position to the public. But perhaps it stung particularly because deep in the folk consciousness of the club is a memory of the 1980s, when Newcastle were forced to sell Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne, contributing to the sense of the club as a diminished entity. Isak was not, as those three were, local – but he had been taken to local hearts and become an emblem of a possible future competing with the very best.

Nick Woltemade scores against Wolves – but the prospect of facing Arsenalâ€s defenders is a far bigger challenge for Newcastleâ€s new signing. Photograph: Richard Lee/Shutterstock

There is an echo of the sale of Andy Cole to Manchester United in 1995, the same bewilderment at letting a prolific forward join a Premier League rival, but at least then Kevin Keegan appeared on the steps to explain the decision and there followed a few months later the world-record signing of Alan Shearer. Sir John Hallâ€s largesse in funding transfers had not stopped. Whether the Saudis remain so committed is less clear.

Ambitious talk of a move to a new stadium in Leazes Park in March seemed a reaffirmation of their commitment, but little has happened since, beyond a petition being raised to save the park. Perhaps there will be progress now David Hopkinson is installed as chief executive, but no decisions are expected until next year at the earliest, in line with the Saudi Public Investment Fundâ€s (PIF) general policy of retrenchment.

The “strategic realignment†is particularly directed at investments outside Saudi Arabia and, while it may be true that PIF has become frustrated by PSR as a check on the pace of growth, the regulations also serve as useful cover for investors scaling back. As the Swiss Ramble football finance Substack pointed out, a £73m loss from 2021-22 falls out of PSR consideration this year, meaning Newcastle can make a loss of about £80m this financial year and still be compliant.

And thatâ€s the other – ultimately more unsettling – element of the Isak debacle. Itâ€s not just that he will be missed; itâ€s what he represents. He was the symbol of Newcastleâ€s imagined future as an elite club with world-class players, a bellwether of the success the Saudi money could bring. Now Isak has gone, and so too has much of optimism about the transformational impact PIFâ€s investment could have.

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NEW YORK — Fans enduring a lengthy wait to get into the US Open final booed and chanted “Let us…