NORTON, Mass. — On and off the golf course, Tiger Woods didn’t look anything like the player who only four days ago dropped to his knees with back pain.

He took full, powerful swings with the driver at the TPC Boston, and he had no trouble gouging shots from the deep rough. He stooped over without hesitation to remove his tee from the ground or retrieve his golf ball from the cup.

“The back has been … it’s a lot better than obviously on Sunday,” Woods said at the Deutsche Bank Championship. “It was nice to have that extra day of rest. Having the tournament start [today] certainly helps. And I’ve gotten treatment every day, two to three times a day. It feels good.”

Sunday was the third time this year Woods has shown physical discomfort on a golf course. An elbow injury forced him to miss two tournaments in the early summer. He was grabbing his lower back in the final round of the PGA Championship. And then at The Barclays last week, after complaining of a stiff lower back from sleeping on a soft mattress in his hotel, Woods fell to his knees on the 13th hole after what he said was a back spasm on his second shot to a par 5.

His health figures to be a talking point at the Deutsche Bank Championship, at least until he gets to the 10th tee this morning to begin the tournament in the ultimate power grouping — Woods, British Open champion Phil Mickelson and Masters champion Adam Scott, who not only are Nos. 1-2-3 in the FedEx Cup, but 1-2-3 in the world. — AP