Way under par, and a little under the weather

After he finished shooting a 9-under-par 63, a course record, in the Shell Houston Open's opening round on Thursday, Adam Scott did something unusual. He got checked out by a doctor because he didn't feel well.

Scott finally talked with reporters about an hour after he was done and said he'd felt lousy all week and still wasn't sure exactly what was wrong -- swollen neck glands or strep throat were both possibilities -- but the doctor was prescribing some antibiotics.

He felt bad, but his game was very good: nine birdies, no bogeys in breezy conditions. "I wouldn't mind feeling like this for another two weeks," he joked. "Maybe I shouldn't take the antibiotics."

Scott holed a 55-foot putt for birdie on his opening hole. When he won the Shell Houston Open last year, Scott sank a 48-foot par putt on the final hole. "So my previous two putts here were 48 feet and 55 feet," Scott said, shaking his head. "It was a nice way to start."

Scott had a three-shot lead over Steve Stricker after the morning half of the field finished play at Redstone.

(Photo by David J. Phillip/AP)