Open golf: Injury break did me some good, says David Howell

David Howell went into his first Major in more than two years today untroubled by his lack of competitive action.

The Englishman missed the cut at Wentworth’s PGA Championship last month and, after qualifying for Merion via a play-off, sat out two tournaments because of an ingrowing toenail.

However, Howell believes he may have benefited from the break.

“I wasn’t quite on my game with my swing and there was definitely a sense that I could have gone into searching mode for a while, trying to find that swing key which didn’t seem to be coming easily,” he said.

“This time off managed to get me away from that a little bit. I know what I’m going to do with my swing at Merion, it’s a minor change but it’s going to get me back on track.”