For at least one round, it was Vintage Vijay

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Vijay Singh's 5-under 66 is a positive start for the '08 FedExCup champ scrambling to stay alive in the Playoffs.

NORTON, Mass. -- It was just like the good ol' days for Vijay Singh in Friday's first round. He drove the ball with both precision and accuracy. His putting stroke did not betray him. He went out and posted a low number, specifically a 5-under 66.

And he felt the warmth of New England's golf fans, who are so used to seeing Vintage Vijay at TPC Boston that they probably don't know any different. They don't know that Vijay has rarely been in vintage form since winning the Deutsche Bank Championship two years ago.

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That victory in 2008 all but guranteed Singh the FedExCup title. It's also the last time he's won a PGA TOUR event. Since then, injuries -- and perhaps, whether we want to admit it or not, advancing age -- has curtailed Singh's ability to contend and maintain the lofty standards he expects of himself.

But if there's ever a place for Singh to produce a Throwback Day, to remind us that he still has the game to compete on TOUR, then it's TPC Boston. He's won here twice and had two other top-10 finishes in six starts.

First out on Friday, he took advantage of ideal scoring conditions -- no wind, soft greens, tees moved up, ball in hand -- to card just his third under-par round in his last four starts.

For a guy who's 86th in FedExCup points, who might see his season end this week if he doesn't move into the top 70, it felt good. Really good.

"I've been playing so crappy for awhile," the 47-year-old Singh said. "It's nice to come and play somewhere that you know the greens, the fairways, where to hit -- and where not to hit it.

"I've been working so hard on my game. Finally I'm seeing some results."

He thought he was seeing results earlier this year when he appeared to have found his game. He tied for 12th in June at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, his best result in three months. Two weeks later, he tied for 13th at the Travelers Championship, a tournament held in the next state over from here, in Connecticut. A week later, he tied for ninth at the AT&T National.

But just like that, his game left him. Or rather, his bad back betrayed him. Again.

Singh had back injuries earlier this year that forced him to withdraw for a couple of the Florida Swing events. He had to take painkillers and muscle relaxers -- but perhaps more frustrating, he could not practice. For a workhorse like Singh, who revels in time spent on the practice range, it was worse than the pain itself.

And now, having just started to feel good again during that June stretch, the back flared up again. For Singh, who seemingly has battled injury issues for the last few years (an arm, a knee, you name it), it's like two steps back (pardon the pun) for every one step of improvement.

"I was beginning to feel a lot better," he said. "Then obviously my back went bad again. When you lay up and kind of protect it, it hurts more.

"When you come back after an injury, it always takes you awhile to get over it. I'm OK now. Hopefully, the back stays good. I'm feeling good. I just need to get my golf game back the way it should be."

The comeback trail certainly has been littered with spotty results. But he enjoyed Friday's result.

Playing with a new clubhead, Singh didn't miss a single fairway with his Cleveland driver. The two he missed came with a 3-iron on the first hole and a 3-wood on the 10th. And with a putter that he just put in the bag this week, he made three putts between 9 and 15 feet.

"I don't think I'm playing badly," he said. "I'm just not playing the way I want to play. I'm very close. I'm just hitting three or four shots the way I don't want to hit it, and those are the ones that are costing me."

Avoiding those three or four shots each round is what he'll need to do the rest of this week if he hopes to keep the season alive. On the outside looking in for next week's BMW Championship, there is no room for error.

But he doesn't feel any pressure. At 86th in the standings, he cannot play defensive. All he can do is keep firing away.

"If I do it, then I do it. If I don't, then I don't, and I'll look forward to the future," Singh said. "If I don't play well this week, that's too bad. I'll just go and work on it and come back strong next season. That's what my plan is."

The golf fans here expect to see three more days of Vintage Vijay. But there are no guarantees. At 47, his window of opportunities to win would seem to be closing.

Of course, we've underestimated Vijay before, and he usually has an age-defying answer. These two years since his Deutsche Bank win, though, have not been to his liking.

Yet TPC Boston is definitely to his liking. The fans here expect to see three more rounds of Vintage Vijay. The question now is: Will he deliver?