DAVID Howell admits preparation ahead of this week’s Omega European Masters in Switzerland has been hindered by an ongoing shoulder tweak.

Rounds of 76 and 69 ensured the Swindon-born golfer missed the cut after finishing one-over during the opening two days of play at the Made in Denmark tournament in Aarhus last week.

Since his Danish disappointment, the 43-year-old has struggled with a slight shoulder injury – enough to rule him out of any practice sessions on Tuesday.

Light work on his wedge shots throughout Wednesday was as far as Howell was prepared to push himself ahead of this morning’s 7.50am slot in the company of Robert Karlsson and Chris Wood.

Howell said: “I haven’t hit many shots to be honest, my shoulder has been a bit niggly.

“Preparation has been hindered by that so it’s a case of seeing what comes my way, which is frustrating.

“I had a golf day on Monday and my shoulder didn’t feel too good, so I didn’t hit anything on Tuesday.

“Yesterday I hit a few wedge shots with the aim of resting as much as possible so it’s good to go today.

“My practice has been poor this week, we’ll have to see what that leads to.

“The course is in good condition, hopefully when it starts I can get stuck in. But at the moment I’m a bit preoccupied with my fitness.

“I’ve had a nice couple of days at home relaxing with the kids which has been nice though.”

Howell’s frustrating performance in Denmark last weekend followed positive results in Czech Republic and Sweden.

A steady performance at the Nordea Masters saw Howell finish tied 24th at his 600th European Tour appearance before a top-40 finish at the Czech Masters.

“I played awful on Thursday (in Denmark), I knocked myself off track a bit after working on something in the pro-am,” said Howell.

“I can’t put it any other way. I played quite nicely on Friday, maybe could’ve been a couple of shots better and threatened to have made the cut but it wasn’t quite to be.

“It was a shame after playing well in the two weeks building up.”