NASSAU, Bahamas -- If there was any trepidation about hitting full, powerful shots or spending too much time doing so, Tiger Woods wasnt letting on Sunday afternoon as the wind whipped across the driving range at Albany Golf Club -- where he was the only player practicing.With his return to competitive golf after a 15-month absence looming this week at the Hero World Challenge, Woods was busy testing equipment -- and looking pretty good doing so.Im not dead, he quipped. Woods, 40, arrived in the Bahamas on Saturday and played nine holes, then spent some two-and-half hours Sunday on the driving range and in a testing center using a device called TrackMan to gauge various distances and launch angles -- a process he said is more daunting now that his longtime sponsor, Nike, is no longer making golf clubs, and Woods has an array of choices.So many manufacturers sent Woods clubs to try that my head was spinning. For now, he is sticking with his Nike irons and experimenting with various woods -- it was a TaylorMade driver, 3-wood and 5-wood and Sunday -- and he dropped a bit of news when he said hes using a Bridgestone golf ball this week.?The most important thing is the ball, he said. Once you find a ball, then you can work around everything else. The ball is No. 1. The most important club in the bag is the ball.Woods had no trouble carrying drives over 300 yards, shaping shots in both directions with his various clubs while showing no pangs of discomfort. Of course, its Sunday, not the opening round on Thursday of an otherwise low-key, 18-player tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. Its a year-ending cash grab for many stars of the game, and how they fare here is of little consequence. There are world ranking points at stake, and a $3.5 million purse with $1 million going to the winner.But for Woods -- who in his absence has slipped to 879th in the world -- this is a big deal. The 14-time major champion has not competed since August 2015 at the Wyndham Championship, where he tied for 10th. Earlier he had missed cuts in three consecutive major championships. And he would later undergo two back procedures that forced him to the sideline, causing all kind of speculation about his future in the game.According to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, Woods has the worst odds to win the tournament, at 40-1, of anyone in the 18-person field.Woods admitted he will be nervous.But Im nervous for every tournament I play in, whether its after a layoff, or six in a row, or a major, he said. I care. If I care, Im nervous. And its good to be that way. To have that nervous energy and channel it into aggression, into focus, concentration, thats good stuff. If I wasnt nervous, that would mean I didnt care. I dont want to be out there flat.Woods said he understands the thinking that he shouldnt care, that just being back after an extended absence is enough.I get that, and that part is great too, he said. Im out here playing and competing. That part is really neat. Then there is that part of me that is the competitor who wants to beat these guys. I want to compete.Some seven weeks ago, Woods announced he was not ready to do that. He at first committed to the Safeway Open in California, then three days before the tournament decided to pull out because he described his game as vulnerable and not ready to compete against the best in the world. That set off a new wave of doubts about his game and his future, and while Woods said he badly wanted to play that week, it was a good decision in the end. The competitor inside me wanted to go so badly and was itching to go. I had been playing at home. I thought only if I have a few shots, its good enough to get it around. I had played feeling worse. But whats the point in rushing back when Ive waited over a year to begin with?Ive waited this long, its not going to hurt to wait just this much longer.Woods caddie, Joe LaCava, who was walking the Albany course on Sunday, twice went to Florida to work with Woods since the Safeway withdrawal, mostly to get Woods in tournament mode and off a golf cart. His instructor, Chris Como, has also been there. Two weeks ago, Woods and LaCava played rounds on four consecutive days, walking -- which seems simple enough until Woods explains he had not been doing that enough.Its weird to say, but I have to get my walking legs, he said. Its a 5-mile walk. You forget what it feels like to be in golf shoes versus tennis shoes. To be on an uneven lie versus a flat lie. I can walk for two or three hours on a treadmill and its not the same as walking on a golf course. Its so different, the standing around (between shots).The rhythm of playing in a golf cart versus walking and playing. I had forgotten that because I had been away for over a year. Joey really helped me ... normal tournament talk, I had to get used to that again.This is a big week for Woods every year. The event began in 1999 at the urging of his late father, Earl, and is a big fundraiser for his foundation. There are numerous sponsor obligations -- Hero has one more year on its deal after the 2016 event -- as well as all the attention his game is going to receive.Im ready to go, he said. Nike Air Force 1 Just Do It Noir .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Air Force 1 Just Do It Pas Cher . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.siteairforce1pascher.fr/air-force-1-07-lv8-soldes.html . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Air Force 1 Soldes . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Nike Sf Air Force 1 Pas Cher .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Even with another stellar performance from junior All-American middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, the No. 9 Gators needed a third-set rally to sweep a feisty Ole Miss group, but the hard-fought victory moved Florida into a three-way tie for first place in the SEC standings Friday (Oct. 28) night.Alhassan tallied a team-high 17.5 points on 14 kills and five blocks. The Glenarden, Md. product also hit .545, marking the third time in the last four matches she hit above .525.Three-time All-American right side Alex Holston and junior outside hitter Carli Snyder also logged double-digit points, scoring 13 and 10, respectively. Holston logged 12 kills and two blocks, while Snyder scored with nine kills and a service ace, all of which went along with 12 digs.Freshman middle blocker Rachael Kramer, who leads the nation with a .489 hitting percentage, totaled seven kills and two blocks, and finished with a whopping .700 clip.Redshirt sophomore setter Allie Monserez was the center of distribution for the Gators, finishing the night with 44 assists-which is the second-highest total by an SEC player in any three-set match this season.Junior libero Caroline Knop led the Gators back row with a match-high 20 digs, and helped UF post its fourth receiving error-free night of the season.Despite the narrow 25-22 and 25-23 victories in the first two sets, Florida rarely trailed in either one. In the third, however, the Gators found themselves in a seven-point hole, trailing 12-5. The Gators eventually knotted the match at 20-20, and won consecutive points with kills from Monserez and Snyder to break a 25-25 tie. Holston and Snyder combined for 12 points after Ole Miss took its 12-5 lead.WORDS FROM WISEFlorida head coacch Mary Wise on tonights sweep of Ole Miss.dddddddddddd.Rhamat (Alhassan) carried us all night against an Ole Miss team that played very well. It came down to a huge play at the end. Sam Dubiel stepped in and made the play of the night on match point.THE RECORDSNo. 9 Florida: 19-2, 9-1 SECOle Miss: 13-10, 2-8 SECNOTABLES AND TRENDS* The Gators move into a three-way tie for first place in the SEC standings with Kentucky and Missouri, both of which hold 9-1 records in league play and were idle on Friday night* Florida improves to 48-3 all-time against Ole Miss, and extended its winning streak against the Rebels to 43* Allie Monserez now boasts two of the highest three-set assist totals by an SEC player this season, as her 44 assists tonight ranked second, and her 43 assists at Alabama (Sep. 25) rank tied for third* Caroline Knops 20 digs tied the third-highest total by an SEC player in any three-set match this year, and tied the highest total in any SEC match this season* For the second time this season, Rachael Kramer hit at least .700 on a night in which she had 10-plus total attacks, with the other outing coming at Alabama (Sep. 25), when she hit .727 with nine kills on 11 total attacks* Kramer also has seven matches this season in which she had 10-plus total attacks and hit better than .500* Carli Snyders nine kills and 12 digs left her one kill shy of her eighth double-double of the seasonUP NEXTFlorida concludes its four-match homestand with a 12 p.m. ET duel with LSU, which will be televised live on SEC Network. Courtney Lyle and Missy Whittemore will have the call for SEC Network. ' ' '