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WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 7, 2005

David Howell

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

RODDY WILLIAMS: Okay, we have David Howell who's joined us in here. David, 67, can you sum up that round for us? Obviously you bogeyed the last, but another good day.

DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, obviously on the verge of getting over that bogey, which was good, but it was just one hole too many. I didn't swing the club great. I'm very pleased with my score, being 6 under, but I need to swing the club a little bit better. I missed a few too many fairways and didn't hit too many good iron shots. I was trying to limp in really and not make too many mistakes and hit that bad tee shot on the last.

It's been obviously a great period lately, and with such a big event like this, it's nice to be right in the hunt.

Q. A weather question. We were asking Monty, and of course the Bay Area is very strange, the fog rolls in. Does that bother you? Do you sort of like the damp conditions? Does it remind you of home a bit?

DAVID HOWELL: I don't think anyone really likes it. Mind you, I did say this morning that a foggy day is always nice because there's going to be some sun behind it. You're just not sure where it's going to come along. I suppose everyone would rather play in the beautiful sunshine like we've had the last couple of days. I think you have to adjust for it. The ball doesn't fly as far when the temperature drops.

Q. The 7th hole, just as an example, they reduced the distance a little bit? I think they listed the distance about 20 yards shorter on 7.

DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, they did move the tee up. I guess that was to give the guys more opportunity to fire at the green, really. Nothing other than that. I'm sure it did the job because they all hit the driver today rather than the 2 irons that we did yesterday, so it made it a more attack oriented hole today.

Q. Talk about how you feel where you are on the leaderboard. It's funny, American TV are asking who are you. Does that kind of stuff bug you?

DAVID HOWELL: No, it doesn't worry me at all. I did nicely at the NEC now and I've played well in a few world TOUR Championship events, as well. It doesn't worry me that I fly under the radar here, as well. That's absolutely fine. It's my job to put myself on the TV more, I guess, and make the American public know who I am.

Q. How do you feel about who you are on the Tour events?

DAVID HOWELL: Delighted with my position, 6 under. As I said, I didn't swing the club particularly well the last couple of days, so delighted to still be 6 under par. I feel I'll have to swing it a little better to keep pushing on over the weekend. But golf is a funny game, I could swing it well tomorrow and not score as well. Two 67s is really what you'd be after. I'm pleased that at the moment I've cut the gap from three shots to one behind.

Q. I know you've had it a while, but how did the putting style evolve and what was the theory behind it?

DAVID HOWELL: Well, it came along sort of I think I was playing in Houston earlier in the year. I've always putted well but felt I could putt better. And I felt my stroke was a little bit too rounded, coming too far on the inside both ways, and I just felt that a straighter stroke would be beneficial.

I actually went with a shorter putter by an inch without discussing it with anybody, and I spoke to Harold Swash and Paul Hurrion, who he works with back in England, and they measured me up and decided I needed a shorter putter, a wider stance, and that should keep the putter on a lot straighter line. And it's been working nicely, even if I do look a bit strange.

Q. Can you talk about 18 a little bit? Where were you aiming? How do you feel about the way that hole sets up for everybody?

DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, it's a very awkward hole. I hit driver yesterday through the fairway just into the rough just short of the traps. The wind was a little bit stronger behind us today, so the fact that maybe you could take a driver quite a long way left, but that's a fairly risky shot and I wasn't hitting it great off the tee. 3 wood was the shave club, had to be nicely down the right side. 3 would have been short of the bunkers, and I put a terrible swing on it and hit it exactly where I shouldn't have with driver. I left myself a great opportunity for par, six or seven feet, and I left it short. It's a very awkward tee shot. And with the pin position today it was a very awkward second shot. I won't be the last person to make 5 out there today.

Q. Have you seen the leaderboard? Have you looked at the leaderboard? Does that have anything to do with the golf course, this course identifying great players?

DAVID HOWELL: The best players normally come to the top. It doesn't matter on any course, really. It is a very good golf course. I guess we'll have to wait and see the end of the week how it pans out, but there's always a fair chance that the best players in the field are going to rise to the top at some stage.

But the course is there's enough rough out there and the greens are firm enough for it to be a tough test. If you're not hitting it straight, people can play their best golf and shoot a few over par. It shows you that the course is playing hard if you're not playing well. If the best players are playing well, then the rough doesn't matter because they're not in it.

Q. How long was the putter before you took the inch off? How much did Harold shorten it, and how long is it now?

DAVID HOWELL: It's 32 inches now. I've always used a 35 inch putter, which was pretty standard. I went to 34. And then when I worked with Harold, and Paul Hurrion especially, they measured me up and decided that another couple of inches had to come off. My girlfriend says a couple of inches doesn't make any difference (laughter).

Q. Does anybody else that you know have a putter that length, as short as that?

DAVID HOWELL: Barry Lane had 29 inches apparently, many years ago, but he's back on a longer one now. I think it's probably the shortest putter, for certain, for somebody my height.

Q. You're saying they measured you up, they found out you're quite tall so they gave you a really short putter?

DAVID HOWELL: The philosophy is to get your eyes over the ball, your hands under your shoulders and as horizontal to the ground as possible without being ridiculous. I've got long legs and short arms. And for whatever reason that's just the way it has to be for me, so they tell me.

Q. You mentioned there about you're quite happy to fly under the radar in America. Has the same applied in Europe, as well? Have you always been quite happy to be low key, obviously not one of the super stars?

DAVID HOWELL: Well, I want to be a superstar because I want to play really well. I'm not worried if people don't recognize me. I've been around the guys that get recognized all the time to realize it's a pain in the bum. It's still slightly surprising that you've played in the Ryder Cup, and the TV anchor starts off with "no one knows you," but that's fine.

Q. We all know and you know Monty was a top player in the early '90s, and last year or two he really struggled, had the personal problems, et cetera. Are you surprised to see this comeback he's made maybe the last five, six months, played well at the Open Championship and wins last week, and here? Is it, like among the guys from the European Tour, any sort of surprise?

DAVID HOWELL: I don't think so. I mean, Monty had the unbelievable seven year streak where he won all the Order of Merits, and then he finally didn't win it, and that coincided with terrible personal problems off the course for a couple of years. No great surprise that anybody would struggle to play to their best form in those circumstances. And now he's got I'm sure he's happier off the course to a large degree and able to concentrate on his golf again. And sure enough, he's playing some lovely golf. I don't think any great surprise, really, certainly not to me.

RODDY WILLIAMS: David, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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