By Alex Myers/Golf Digest US

Tiger Woods’ latest comeback hit a hurdle in October when he withdrew ahead of the Safeway Open, describing his play as “vulnerable.” Seven weeks later, the 14-time major champ sounds a lot more confident about the state of his golf game.

Woods spoke to USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio on the range at Albany Golf Club during a two-hour practice session on Sunday, and offered this assessment of how he’s hitting the golf ball heading into this week’s Hero World Challenge.

“I have way more shots now, because I’ve played way more golf. I only had a handful of shots back then,” Woods said. “And you just saw a session where I hit everything. And I had control of everything. I can hit all the shots now, on call.”

“It was a smart decision in the end to pull out of the tournaments. The competitor inside me wanted to go so badly, I was itching to go, I had been playing at home, and I thought I could get it around. I had played feeling worse and won golf tournaments. But I finally decided why rush … I had waited more than a year, so let’s wait a little more and get it right.”

Woods also appears to have his power back. He said he is carrying his driver 300-310 yards and his 3-iron 235 yards.

As for the equipment Woods is using, DiMeglio reports Woods is testing a variety of metal woods, but that he has the same Nike irons and wedges he used in his last tournament, the 2015 Wyndham Championship. Woods has a Scotty Cameron in his bag and he’s switched to using a Bridgestone 330S golf ball.

“The golf ball is the most important club in the bag . . . It’s a lot of testing,” said Woods, who was spotted testing a TaylorMade fairway wood earlier this month. “But I’m getting my golf stamina back so I can do this.”

Proof of that stamina came on a recent trip to Medalist Golf Club where Woods walked 18 holes four consecutive days with caddie Joe LaCava. Woods said he’s “Ready to go” for this week’s Hero World Challenge, but he admitted he has butterflies about teeing it up inside the ropes for the first time in more than 15 months.

“If I wasn’t nervous, that would mean I didn’t care,” Woods said. “I don’t want to be out there flat. I want to be out here so bad. And now I am.”