Disappointed Howell comes up dry in Desert
6:00am Monday 4th February 2013 in Sport By Ned Payne
SOLID: David Howell
SWINDON’S David Howell admitted he wanted a higher finish than the 30th place he ended up with at the Dubai Desert Classic.
But the 1999 champion, who lives next to the Emirates Golf Club, said he couldn’t be displeased with a ‘solid’ conclusion to the Middle East leg of the European Tour.
The Broome Manor pro carded rounds of level-par and three-under at the weekend to finish on nine-under, with Scotsman Stephen Gallacher triumphing overall on 22-under.
“I was hoping for better at my home tournament and especially coming in with good form, but it wasn’t to be,” said Howell.
“I won’t be shouting from the rooftops about finishing in the top 30, but it was another solid effort.
“I had a terrible start on Saturday which dashed any hopes of a really good finish, I was going backwards in a hurry.
“But I battled back and had a good finish to the round with an eagle on the last.
“On Sunday I played quite well in the wind, moved forward and 69 was a nice effort.
“I played really nicely on the back nine and had a couple of six-footers that I missed, so I had my chances.”
The end result was Howell’s fourth top-30 finish in a row on the tour, while Gallacher’s triumph was the fourth time in six Race to Dubai events that a British player has come out on top.
