LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Connor Powers has a bit of Happy Gilmore in him as he winds up to attack a golf ball with his driver, though he doesnt shoot the kind of low scores Adam Sandlers character did in the movie.Kind of hard to make a lot of birdies when half the time you have no idea where the ball is going.I lose a bunch of balls off the tee, Powers said. Accuracy is not the main goal for me when I pick up a club.What is the goal for the former minor league baseball player is hitting the ball a long way, a very long way. He can pound it over 400 yards, and sometimes the balls even stay in the fairway by the time theyre done rolling.On Tuesday, he could earn a cool $250,000 if he can be the biggest of the big hitters in the winner-take-all RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship.Its pretty sweet that theres an opportunity to make money doing this, said Powers, a former Mississippi State first baseman who washed out in the minors after hitting 20 homers in three seasons in the San Diego Padres system. But if it was just 500 bucks Id still be doing it. Its just so much fun to be out there and compete, especially after ending my baseball career. Thats really what it is about for me.Powers and seven others who qualified last month in Mesquite, Nevada, will go head-to-head in the championship final at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. Six balls each, with the winners advancing to the next round until only one long driver is still standing.The 26-year-old Powers qualified for the finals by hitting a drive 402 yards, though that wasnt enough to make him the favourite among the eight players left. That would probably be Joe Miller, the 2010 world champion and 2013 runner-up from London who competes on the Long Drivers European Tour and has a streak of 13 straight wins.Or it could be Jamie Sadlowski, the 2008 and 2009 world champion from Canada who weighs just 165 pounds but had the longest qualifying drive of 409 yards in Mesquite.They are all different sizes and ages and have different backgrounds, said Art Sellinger, the former two-time world champion who runs Long Drivers of America. The one thing they do have in common is theyre focused on how fast they can swing a golf club and how square they can get at impact.Powers barely played golf at all before stumbling onto the long driving scene, though several of the finalists are scratch handicap players or better. Powers took up long driving at the urging of former Mississippi State teammate Jeff Flagg, who is also in the finals.Powers plays more now and is a 15-handicap, no better than most weekend golfers. But his ball striking skills — at least with the driver — are world class.I still think you have to be a legitimate striker of the ball, said Sellinger, a pioneer of the long driving ranks. Whenever Im trying to educate amateurs I tell them theyre ball strikers. I didnt say they know how to shoot 65 for a living.For Powers, its a lot like stepping up to the plate in baseball, complete with Golf Channel televising it live.Its basically home run derby in golf, he said. And Ive always loved home run derby in baseball. China Jerseys Stitched . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. China Jerseys Cheap . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. China Jerseys Wholesale . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down. Cheap Jerseys From China . What they did need, the Devils got from Patrik Elias. Elias scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forwards Mike Santorelli and Petri Kontiola to one-year contracts. Santorellis deal is worth US$1.5 million, according to a league source. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks. The Leafs also announced the re-signing of forward Troy Bodie to a one-year deal on Thursday. Kontiola will reportedly make $1.1 million. His agent, Mark Gandler, confirmed the one-year contract and said the Finnish centre had to pay 20 million Russian rubles -- roughly C$620,297 -- to get out of the final season of his KHL deal. Coupled with Tuesdays signing of Finn Leo Komarov, the Leafs retooled at forward after letting Mason&nnbsp;Raymond, Dave Bolland and Jay McClement leave in free agency.dddddddddddd Komarov returned to Toronto after a year in the KHL. Gandler said Kontiola was pencilled in as the Leafs No. 3 centre. Santorelli could also fill that role or replace McClement on the fourth line. Santorelli, 28, had an impressive 10 goals and 18 assists in 49 games for Vancouver before a shoulder injury derailed his season. Kontiola, 29, spent the last five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. Before that he played 12 games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007-08 season, recording five assists. He helped Finland win a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics with five points in six games. ' ' '