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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2006

David Howell

VIRGINIA WATERS, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: David, you decided to take last week off as a precaution and maybe looking at the weather, it wasn't a bad idea. How do you feel now with 18 holes under your belt?

DAVID HOWELL: Well, I made the right decision, as you say, taking last week off. And I can stand up and play good, solid game of golf. I'm not holding back from any of my shots, but I do know about it afterwards. I still feel like I have got a bad back. You but it's not causing me any problems on the course, just affects me off the course I guess.

GORDON SIMPSON: How do you feel now?

DAVID HOWELL: A little stiff, but lots of guys I'm sure are in similar situations. I'm just coming to form slightly, I'm improving to this point rather than being a more normal thing. A little wary of it but I don't think it's going to affect.

GORDON SIMPSON: 68 dulls the pain, I imagine.

DAVID HOWELL: Yes.

Q. Has it been diagnosed, the problem?

DAVID HOWELL: I couldn't possibly get into it. Yes. (Laughter).

I've just got inflammation of one of the joints in the spine really. From the way I've been setting up to the golf ball, I'm putting strain on the spine golf already puts a lot of strain on the spine, and if you're not in the best position yourself and I obviously haven't been for the last good while, the stress has just built up and built up and eventually gave way. Tried to counter that by doing some slightly different things in my setup which you have in golf anyway.

Q. Do you feel there are golfers who are always going to be unlucky with injuries and that you perhaps fall into that category?

DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, I'm not so sure it's well, you could call it unlucky. I spoke to Clarkey at the British Masters, we were watching the FA Cup, we were sitting there watching that great match and I said, "Darren, have you ever missed a tournament because of injury?" And he asked Chubby and he said he's not missed one tournament in 13 years with injury, and he has not worked out all his life and done the right things in his life as we know.

So, yeah, I guess some people are lucky and some aren't. I try to be philosophical about it. I do a lot of things well, and my body is one thing that let's me down, just like putting does for some people. That's the way I'm trying to look at it. But obviously you get a bit concerned that an injury is going to come along at the real wrong time of the year, Ryder Cups or majors, and that would be real frustrating.

Q. Do you intend to try the Darren route for a while?

DAVID HOWELL: I tried that in my younger years. I think I'm still paying for that now.

Q. What's the maximum number of tournaments you now plan to play in a row?

DAVID HOWELL: Well, I'm actually about to play four in a row at the moment. We think primarily because it's not a problem that's going to go away particularly with rest anyway, so I've got my physios with me every week. You know, we'll try and manage the situation really. It's going to be something that goes over time rather than all of a sudden. But four is always the maximum I like to play and ideally three would be better.

Q. You say you're making slight changes to your setup. Obviously your previous setup worked, you wouldn't be at the top of the Order of Merit without it, do you think changing the setup going to affect?

DAVID HOWELL: No, it's very minor to be honest with you. I'm almost trying to get in the same position in a different way if that makes sense, using different muscles to get there. Sounds complicated.

Q. Thoughts of becoming a contortionist?

DAVID HOWELL: To be honest with you, if I wasn't in the best position mechanically to swing a golf club, that was going to harm me anyway. So that's one good thing that came out of playing the British Masters actually. I was a pair of shorts and one of the golf shooters there with cameras looking all around me looking at how my spine was working which was very interesting.

Q. Have you ever done that before, or was that the first time?

DAVID HOWELL: No, first time.

Q. When did the injury flare up?

DAVID HOWELL: The Masters, Thursday of the Masters.

Q. If it was a different time of the year, you mention all the majors and Ryder Cup, if it was a different time of the year, beginning or ends, would you be tempted to take more time off?

DAVID HOWELL: Well, I took a month off and it was no better. So well, it was marginally better. It's a problem that I've just got to manage it really. I don't think I did nothing for six weeks and I came back and setup and used my body the way it was it would flare up anyway. So it's a case of trying to do things slightly differently. I have a good physio with my staff and try and work through the problem.

Q. Are you using painkillers?

DAVID HOWELL: No.

Q. Are you wary of any particular type of shot?

DAVID HOWELL: No, not really. I was very much so at the British Masters, but I had a bit of a breakthrough late last week once I started changing this setup. It just seemed to ease a little bit. Funny enough, I'm trying to whack the club off the golf ball yesterday and today, try to keep up with Mr. Cabrera. So I don't think there's any I don't feel I'm certainly going to give way like I did pretty much at The Masters. So hopefully it will just continue to get better.

Q. With the course playing longer as it is, particularly with the extensions and the rain, did you feel that you had to force it today?

DAVID HOWELL: No, I like to stand up and hit it with my driver as most guys do anyway. Hit driver most holes, even on the 18th, I wasn't aware of any problems. So that was a good positive, good, positive feedback on that front.

Q. How much ahead is Mr. Cabrera?

DAVID HOWELL: He hits it about 20 yards past me, minimum.

Chipped to five feet on the 4th. And then I holed a nice putt actually on 6, not playing much different than it used to. Chipped to two foot on 17. So, yeah, just the one nice putt really.

GORDON SIMPSON: And you came into form around this time last year.

DAVID HOWELL: If we can do a chance better than last year, we'd be happy.

End of FastScripts.

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