home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com		 ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP


October 4, 2006


David Howell


ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND: Pre-Round

GORDON SIMPSON: We have David with us at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and David, obviously quite interesting as we get into October now, the Order of Merit race, and your pal, Paul Casey, is now ahead of you. Your thoughts and your assessment on the situation as it stands?

DAVID HOWELL: He got ahead of me but I got it back a bit last week. Obviously keen to overtake him as he's keen to stay in front I'm sure. Two events left for me it looks like, and if I can play well and beat Paul in both events, then you know, I may not be out of the running.

As Colin just said, he came into this event 800,000,000 behind last year, Euros, and I'm only �£80,000 behind, but it's do-able. Obviously he can make it very difficult for me.

GORDON SIMPSON: Anybody in the top, even Monty himself can overhaul everyone at the end?

DAVID HOWELL: Certainly Ian (Poulter) put a good final round in last week, Henrik (Stenson) playing well last week. It's not just the two of us. But at the end of the day, if we play well, we have got the advantage so it's in our hands and Paul's especially.

Q. (What would it mean, winning the Order of Merit?)

DAVID HOWELL: It would be a fantastic achievement. Obviously when I joined the Tour, Colin was winning the Order of Merit every year hands down, and it's always been inconceivable that anyone else is going to win it. Then Ernie and Retief winning the majors and the world tour events, that was in a different league to what I was doing in that stage of my career as well.

So it's very exciting to have a chance. Being No. 1 all year, it would be disappointing not to finish it off, but it will be a wonderful achievement to have that trophy in the sideboard or I don't know if you keep it for a year or if you get one, that would be something I never really thought I would ever achieve, and I'm on the verge of being able to do it. If I can't, then I've got a great year, but it will be twinged with disappointment.

Q. (Are you more comfortable with your success now?)

DAVID HOWELL: Yes, simply put. Yeah, it's certainly, I've always, if anything, struggled, my mind has struggled to keep up with my game if anything. Seeing myself in the arena that I play in, it's always the difficult part for me. Becoming much more comfortable with that as the years roll on and I keep performing to a high standard. I'm getting there and winning the Order of Merit again would only confirm that I'm here for the right reason and I'm here to stay.

Q. (Being more comfortable with winning?)

DAVID HOWELL: Well, just more of the same. I've been in the top 20 for two years now I guess, basically. Near to that if that's not quite true. And, yeah, I'm more and more comfortable with that, the more I play, the more majors, the more tournaments in America, more Ryder Cups, obviously you've become just a lot more comfortable in that situation. So it's a gradual thing. My career has always been a work in progress, really. And you know, I continue to get better which is exciting.

Q. (Surprised you're really here?)

DAVID HOWELL: No well, I think we're past that stage now anyways, maybe two or three years ago I was guilty of feeling that way. You know, there's the tournaments I've won in the last couple of years, they have gone a long way to reminding me that I can be the best in the world on any given week if I play my best.

And so no, I don't want to overplay what I'm talking about here, really. I am much more comfortable than I used to be but sometimes I still pinch myself I guess, so I pick up one of the others, the guys playing in all of the big stuff and doing all of the things that I've always dreamed of.

Q. (How are you feeling?)

DAVID HOWELL: Not great. Shoulder gave way a little bit on Sunday which was frustrating, just had a problem that always caused me trouble and came back with a vengeance on Sunday. I had a company day on Monday which I had to pull out of. So I'm going to go to the range after I speak to you guys and see how we are.

Q. Still going to Valderrama?

DAVID HOWELL: Valderrama, yes.

Q. (Any thoughts of withdrawing this week?)

DAVID HOWELL: Not at the moment. I'm obviously going to work through with my physio. It's a very similar problem that I had came on at the Sunday of the PGA this year. I was in dire straits then as well and we managed to patch me up again to compete and play well in well, played okay in the NEC and played one in Germany the following week.

So obviously it's not ideal. In the last couple of months, my body has let me down, really. It would be the with a way my years generally go with injuries, just a bit of time off to win the Order of Merit, would be a great thing from that point of view as well.

It's just posture, long term stuff, bad posture, golf doesn't help it. It's not like I need an operation or anything. I just need to keep doing the right things, play a little less, stand better, sit better.

Q. Darren's won two World Championships, Lee's won an order of merit - does that make you want to put one over them?

DAVID HOWELL: No, it doesn't I don't think in those terms. You know, in the last couple of years, Lee's had a career that's far surpassed mine to date and I've been ranked higher the last couple of years, I've probably played better golf than him and ranked higher than him for a while. And with Darren's troubles this year, I've been ranked higher than him for a year, but when we play social golf, he brings me down to earth. I'm not going to stand around and gloat, but it would be a lovely thing to do, you know, certainly.

Q. Did the shoulder cost you last weekend?

DAVID HOWELL: I'm the last person in the world to make excuses for my of my golf but yeah, my body was feeling dodgy right after the Ryder Cup and we managed well, I had eight, nine days here, getting better every day and got to the range, actually the putting green on Sunday morning and so far as I knew I was fine and felt a little niggle in my neck which is normally the precursor to something and I just, I call it a niggle in the back of the shoulder on the range, which I haven't had all week, and I had been playing really nicely and I wasn't swinging as well on Sunday.

So it's putting two and two together, do I feel that my shoulder did affect me on Sunday. But I've plenty of golf with niggles, so it wasn't a great performance for me but I was affected by the injury certainly.

Q. (Possibly playing too much?)

DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, definitely. The year is getting longer and longer, it the opportunity we have. I certainly feel for a few weeks now, I've been trying to play and play when possibly I shouldn't have been to win the Order of Merit obviously and at times feel like I'm fighting a bit of a losing battle.

So hopefully there's some very good golf obviously. So, you know, hopefully I can just get along for two or three more weeks and give it my best shot.

Q. Being England's highest ranked golfer - is that something that appeals?

DAVID HOWELL: I don't really think in those terms to be honest with you. You know, obviously Luke and Paul and myself and Poults, I don't know if I missed anybody yeah, sure. Obviously we all know we're sort of rivals and we're all sort of friends but we don't really think of it in nationalistic terms. I haven't got any I've never sat down and said I want to be England's highest ranked golfer, and I doubt that's never been one of my goals and I doubt it has been for any of these guys. We all mow what golf is all about, winning majors and big championships, the World Rankings are important to us but not the be all and end all. To date, obviously none of us have achieved what ultimately English golf fans would like, which I guess is a major win; until we do, I guess whoever is ranked highest is really a moot point.

Q. Inaudible?

DAVID HOWELL: Now there's a thought, yeah. Wonderful, fine playing four or six years ago, when there was one person only in the top hundred in the world. I'm obviously just to be pleased a part of that. I was around then when I was 150th in the world and trying my best to do better and just couldn't quite manage it. And it's now nice to be part of that resurgence as you've said.

Q. What's your schedule for the rest of the year?

DAVID HOWELL: No, health, but depending on how my health is, yeah, I'll be playing HSBC and then Japan and then we've got the three very nice events to be invited to at the end of the year, the Million Dollar, which will be my first time, and Tiger's event again, and Luke managed to pick me for the World Cup which is nice.

Yeah, I've got a heavy schedule, and if I can get through that healthy, then obviously next year I'm going to have to reassess how much I play, and I will cut down next year, definitely. That's my plan.

Q. Is there any danger of going to the range now and having to pull out?

DAVID HOWELL: Knowing my body as I do, I would imagine I'll probably be okay and I'll be hitting many more shots before I play and it will be just trying to get through the four rounds with as few shots as possible is the idea, so that might work quite well, won't it.

Q. The long term, how difficult is that?

DAVID HOWELL: It's very difficult. The last two years have been a big change for me, playing and trying to balance America and here. It's very new to me. Yeah, I find it very challenging to think as differently as I need to.

No, it's very difficult to get my head around tournaments in Europe that I would just, you know, just generally in the middle of the summer that I would definitely play without actually naming them, big events in Europe that now if I'm going to play both sides of the Atlantic, that I'm not necessarily going to play. And I do find it challenging mentally to get my head around that.

But that's what I've got to do. It's the new world I'm sort of living in, taking part in, and probably that's the next step for me is to really think about being the best golfer in the world rather than maybe the busiest.

Q. (Planning for next year?)

DAVID HOWELL: Well, I've got my whole I travel with an entourage to keep me going. We're constantly looking at what I'm doing, trying to do the right things. Part of it is obviously playing too much.

I've just got a body that is susceptible to injuries, really. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep going. It's just a constant battle that I've got. Some people can't put. I've got a body that breaks down. That's just the way that I have to try and look at it. It's a pain. It's very frustrating, very stressful and you see lots of guys that don't do any work, that never miss a day's golf ever, I'm very jealous of that.

So that's my world and I just have to run with it. All I know is I basically do all I can to stay fit and healthy. And as long as I'm doing that, then I just have to accept that if I break down, I break down and there's nothing I can do, really.

GORDON SIMPSON: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.
About ASAP Sports • FastScripts Archive • Recent Interviews • Captioning • Upcoming Events • Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297