The Zone Interactive Golf Magazine (UK) The Zone Issue 28 | Page 7

NEWS
the right time. The fact that he was a
contemporary of the players on the
European Tour also meant that he was
able to provide an insight into their
lives, habits and foibles. It also appeared
to be an indication that he accepted his
best days were behind him.
Having gone head to head with Tiger
Woods and emerged triumphant at the
HSBC Champions event in Hong Kong
in 2005 and then going on to win the
BMW PGA championship in May 2006,
Howell knew that he had beaten the
best in the business. He also finished
fifth at the Accenture World Matchplay,
and had top 20 finishes at The Masters
and US Open, and played on a winning
European Ryder Cup team in 2006.
The competitive spirit remained as
strong as ever and he still believed that
somewhere, buried within, was the
game that had brought him so much
success.
Giving it up and hiding behind the
microphone was the easy way out, but
Howell (or Howler as he is universally
known) has never been one to take the
easy path.
He decided to stick with it, even though
he now admits: "For me, it was a
collision of circumstances. First, I split
up with Emily [now his wife] then I
played a lot of golf when I was injured.
So I was coming home practically
every Friday night [having missed
the cut] to a social life where I
didn’t know what I wanted, then
my mum died. All of a sudden
you’re thinking this game that
has given you so much isn’t any
fun.
"How bad did it get? In 2009,
I remember hitting the
THEZONE / ISSUE 28

occasional straight drive and it felt like
the most sublime piece of luck. I had no
idea how it had happened, nor any clue
as to how it could happen again."
It's a shocking admission, but Howell is
not the first to suffer at the hands of this
sport, and he will not be the last.
Having reached a high of ninth in the
rankings, at one point he fell as low
at 576th. Clearly, it was going to be a
long road back. He didn't win enough
money in 207 or 2009 to retain his card,
bu Ё