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WGC CA CHAMPIONSHIP

March 20, 2007

David Howell

DORAL, FLORIDA

Q. How did you get involved with the coaching clinic today?
DAVID HOWELL: Through CA. They sponsor me and Retief which is nice, so we've got a few extra activities to take part in this week. It's lovely to come and see the kids to be honest with you. I was just saying to the TV crew, it was really an elite group in Singapore a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't teach them a damn thing. So it's nice to be able to give some tips and not get laughed at.

Q. Can you talk a little about how, I know you've some injury problems, but I hear you've recovered now.
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, fit as a fiddle at the moment, which is nice. I've been feeling good all this year really and my game has been terrible. (Laughter) That, and the security blanket of a dodgy shoulder or poor back, I haven't been that good so far. It's nice to be feeling good and feel like I can practice as hard as I want to at the moment. Although, I practised so little last year because of my body; I seem to be less like Vijay hitting a thousand balls and more like Colin Montgomerie, just pitching up and playing.
My body is feeling good, hopefully I'm just starting to turn my game as well. I'm feeling a bit more positive with things this week. So hopefully we can start getting the year underway.

Q. Is it just the lack of practice and everything that you're not sharp?
DAVID HOWELL: No, not really. I was working on a few things. Last year, although ultimately a very successful year, was a struggle in many, many ways as well. I didn't play anywhere near as consistently as the year before. I just started swinging the club pretty poorly. I had one major fault which I just couldn't seem to get out of. I was going down one path trying to get rid of that fault really and felt like I was beating my head against a brick wall. Sort of did an about-turn last week to be honest with you, almost started doing the complete opposite and started really hitting the ball quite nicely. Hopefully that was the right decision and I'll play more consistently.

Q. What was that?
DAVID HOWELL: Just getting the club face very closed in the downswing and was trying a number of different sort of ways to try and cure that problem. But it was really beating me up. I was hitting some really, really poor shots. And then it afflicted me quite late last year and certainly early season this year. Whereas the year previous, not 2005, into 2006, I was really hitting the ball pretty darned straight for me, and that's why I was performing so well.
One thing I was working on which worked for a good few months there, all of a sudden like with golf, you work on one thing and often it can become a fault anyway and then you have to work on something else.
As I say, we probably didn't really realize how the fault had crept in, but last week we seemed to have a sort of, you know, switched the flick and then suddenly a light bulb went off in my head really; 'oh, maybe that's why'. We just changed what I'm working on slightly, went back to what I was working on in 2005, and, hey presto, although I haven't hit a ball in anger in a tournament yet. So, not too carried away, but I'm certainly more confident with the way I'm swinging the club. Hopefully that will pay off this week.

Q. Tiger's win at Augusta ten years ago was such a big moment in this country but also in the sport in general, but for someone from Europe and England specifically, what was that moment like for you and your peers, was it as huge a moment for you as well?
DAVID HOWELL: It was pretty amazing really. I mean, I played the Walker Cup with Tiger and that's as much as I knew of him really but obviously heard of the enigma that was Tiger Woods over here and the name had been bandied around as the future of golf for many years. Fortunately we were able to win the Walker Cup as a team, and Tiger played his part, but it wasn't enough for the states that week. Like you say, basically within a year of turning pro, you know, he burst on to the scene and won that Masters by a record margin as well, which was quite amazing.
What was interesting, Tiger played an awful lot of pro tournaments as an amateur and never really sparkled. I don't think many of the pros at the time realised what they were dealing with and didn't think he was going to come out quite as fast as he did. It was a momentous occasion really, and the golfing world has never quite been the same since that moment.

Q. That was supposed to trigger an explosion of golf in this country but it seemed that explosion occurred more in Europe and around the world.
DAVID HOWELL: I don't think this country needs an explosion of golf. It's a great golfing nation anyway. More players here than anywhere else.
You're right, it did sort of bring -- take golf further afield and Tiger almost superceded golf and just became a global star much like Muhammad Ali I guess, or Michael Jordan; he's that big. And all of a sudden, you get people wanting to watch what's made this guy so famous and that's great for golf. They say the rest of the world really are catching up; and the Asian Tour is growing and obviously on The European Tour, we play all over the world bar America now, and it is becoming more and more popular every time we go back to China or Asia. There are more fans and it's getting much more popular.

Q. Do you think there's any tie-in to the growing number of younger players?
DAVID HOWELL: To be honest, I think our tour has always been a younger tour than the United States, with the college system, guys coming out of college, 20, 22, 24. I was a prime example. I left school at 16 and was on Tour by the age of 20. Without the college system, certainly in Britain, there's always going to be a younger field to our golf over there. There's more than one way to skin a cat. The college system is great and also getting out there as a young man is good as well.
So I don't think it really changed much certainly in Europe from that point of view.

Q. Talking about yourself, do you think that this year -- inaudible?
DAVID HOWELL: There's nothing better than starting the season quick. Last year for me, winning the HSBC back in November, top of the Order of Merit, that's a great place to be. That being said, I played poorly at the end of the year. It's a marathon, not a sprint, as the famous saying goes. We have the first major coming up and if my game is coming on now -- there's no better time to play poorly than January, February, March in this game. From now on in, you really want to be on your game and I'm hoping that's going to be the case.

Q. Are you going there next week?
DAVID HOWELL: No, I'm playing Houston.

Q. How is the course playing?
DAVID HOWELL: Greens are fantastic, looks like they are going to be firm, fast, which is what this course needs to be a real challenge. There are plenty of birdie opportunities out there, but there's a bit of breeze around it seems the first two days we've been here. If you add the breeze to the tough greens, I think it might be quite a tricky week.

Q. 16, drivable?
DAVID HOWELL: Not for me. Yeah, I'm sure a couple of the guys will have a go if they are generous with the tee and put it up 20 yards as well.
It's a great little hole actually. If you get it in the front traps, obviously you fancy your chances of making a birdie. But with the firm greens, you can also make a pig's ear of it. It gives a bit of excitement to the fans as well, but I don't think the excitement will be coming from me.

Q. 18, likewise, can you carry the water?
DAVID HOWELL: It is a long-hitter's paradise out here in all fairness; the 18th sums that up. I played the 18th this morning and I couldn't carry the corner. It's the toughest drive you'll ever see. If you miss the fairway right, you're laying up and it becomes a par 5. The guys that have got the extra ten or 15 yards, they deserve it because they have got it. If you can hit it that far, then you've got to take that advantage. But it is one of those classic holes where if you can carry the ball 295, there's a big, big advantage.

Q. And this week is a big week, even more so with what's around the corner?
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, for me certainly this is a massive week in itself, but a good week here would certainly put me in a good frame of mind for the Masters. You know, strong field here, obviously, but a small field. These are very pleasant weeks to play for all of the guys, and I have had a pretty good run in them over the last three or four years. I'm looking forward to this week and hopefully we can get our first decent result of the year and a chance to win obviously on Sunday would be the main goal.

Q. Of the majors, do you feel the Masters suits you best?
DAVID HOWELL: I've had two reasonable showings so far, and yeah, I go there thinking if I play well, I could have a sniff come Sunday. I haven't done it quite yet, but I've had my moments and everybody loves going to Augusta. But it is certainly a course that I feel does suit my particular skills more than some others.
I've always fancied my chances of playing well. Whether that's going to be good enough to contend; hopefully it will be.

End of FastScripts

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