I had a plan to write the next instalment of my blog when next I had a good result to talk about. I think that plan was hatched some six months ago, and I now have to admit that it was poorly thought out. No top ten finish has come my way since hence no blog for six months. Rubbish on both fronts I would have to say so I hope that starting to write again may well bring about a turn around in my form.

A general update on things then would be a good place to start.

1.Coach Clive Tucker is still firmly in place. Swing is looking good and I now just have to trust in it more and... MORE »

Apologies to my Uncle Jeff who I suggested should put a pound each way on me in Spain. Unfortunately I did not come good for him, but only just I might add.

A final round of 66 was good enough for 17th place, but I tell you it could have been better, in fact 66 was the most I could have shot and that’s the first time in two years I can honestly say that.

Raymondo (my Dad for any new visitors to the site) was made up of course with a better display of golf and, had he used the self focusing binoculars I gave him for his birthday on Wednesday night, instead of chatting up any Spanish senorita he sets... MORE »

‘Stop moaning and just knock the putt in’ were the words of wisdom Emily my good lady wife came up with when I hit a poor wedge shot to the last hole of the first round of the Indian Masters in Delhi. Pretty good advice  from a first time caddie.

It would have been a perfect way to end the first day with Mrs H on the bag for the first time had the putt not horseshoed out. Still fair play to her for lugging the clubs around for four days, her first time around a golf course for real.

Why was Emily caddying for god’s sake I here some of you question. Well I was not sure whether to play in... MORE »

Happy new decade everyone!  I hope the New Years resolutions are being upheld so far. I can proudly say that I have kept my own promise not answer any more calls from Jenifer Aniston and I can only hope she now gets the message.

A lot has happened since I last wrote a blog so I think a little catching up should be done before talking about this week. Firstly the Jockey sacked me late last year after two unsatisfactory seasons together when the offer of his old job with Anders Hansen came up. We are still good friends and he assures me he will not be jealous when I start to play like I did before he brought me down!!... MORE »

Hello There, how are you all? Or should I not be so presumptuous in thinking that I have any followers any more. Not because of my poor form, I would never doubt my supporters loyalty on the golf  front, more because of my laziness on the blog front. However I did say that If I had nothing good to write about I may not bother, and that is how it has been I am afraid.So what has brought on this sudden return to the world of the internet blog? Well from the depths of despair after missing yet another cut at Gleneagles, which was preceded by the same result in Holland, and the Czech Republic for that matter all by two shots bizarrely, I... MORE »

Forgive me oh loyal supporters, for I have been lazy. It must be a couple of months since my last blog, mainly because not much has been going on.

If I rack my little brain I can recall a couple of little incidents that may be of interest to you all, about two months ago I tried my hand at being a removal man and helped a friend move a washing machine which was a success for him as the machine safely made its way into his garage. Not such a success for me as I strained my intercostal muscles and had to have a month off!

After returning to the tour in Ireland with a cut missing display I headed home... MORE »

Well my month off was spent practising hard at Queenwood in some lovely Spring weather, after having spent a week commentating on the World Matchplay over in Phoenix. My good friend Squirrel won that week, another resident of Virginia Water. Well to be fair Geoff Ogilvy won but Squirrel caddies for him and he tells me he was kind enough to give Geoff 90% of the winnings which was very generous of him I reckon.

Commentating was a great experience but one I would rather not do too often at this stage of my career so don't panic I fully intend to have the commentators talking about me and not the other way round from now on.

So to Seville and the... MORE »

I never really did believe in New Year's resolutions; I mean why would the changing of a year make anyone do things differently, take me for instance.

New year same old Howeller, taking for granted the few fans he has around the world by only doing his blog every so often, letting them log onto his website time after time only to see that he can't be bothered to write down a few lines every Monday. It's pathetic really but it seems that it is the way it is and from now on I am not going to promise to do better, as I reckon any more broken promises and I'll be writing this only for my Mother to read, and... MORE »

Thirty fifth in Qatar, missed cut in Dubai, not a very satisfactory couple of weeks you would think. Now obviously I would agree however, some times results can be a little misleading. My form in Qatar was not good at all on Thursday however a chat with ISM's new employee, my old friend from the tour Ian Garbutt gave me the confidence to make a slight shift in how I was swinging the club, more mental than anything you would see on camera but it led me to really enjoy my golf over the weekend and a 68 to finish capped off a reasonable week.

In Dubai coach Tucker was in town and a couple of pointers from him helped me... MORE »

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for clicking back to read my blog again, I hope I can keep you informed with a bit more regularity this season. I have no excuses this week with plenty of time on my hands after a missed cut in Abu Dhabi. Three years in a row now I have missed the cut easily, maybe it is a tournament I should be missing next year?

So what's been going on in my winter break? Well one piece of news is that after careful consideration I have decided to once again work with my old coach Clive Tucker. This was a tough decision to make as far as letting Jamie know of course as I enjoyed... MORE »

There we go then, the thirteenth season of my professional career has come to a close with a bogey at the last, for a seventy two, one over par and a twenty fifth place finish at the Volvo Masters. The week promised so much more at one point but like the rest of the year things did not turn out how I would have wished. My end of year report would say 'could do better'.

But then that is golf I guess, nobody has a divine right to be at the top all the time, take the winner of the Order of Merit Robert Karlsson, only five years ago he was struggling to retain his tour card, now he is Europe's... MORE »

So two more tournaments have passed us by the Portugal Masters down in Vilamoura  and the Castello Masters at Sergio Garcia's home golf club. No surprise who won that one then, however in Portugal Alvaro Quiros the Spaniard won in convincing fashion. Alvaro is the longest hitter on tour and probably the liveliest character to go with it and another exciting up and coming young player.

Two more cuts made is nothing to shout about but as always there were some positives to take from it all especially in Spain where I started to drive the ball really quite well again which hopefully will help me out at our final tournament, the Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

Raymondo, my fathe,r was present in... MORE »

It seems I am missing more diaries than putts at the moment so as my old school teacher used to say "Howeller, you must try harder". So if you have been on to my website and been frustrated at the fact that is has not been updated I do apologise.

So what has been going on lately? Third place in the Johnnie Walker championship at Gleneagles was a pleasant return to the top of the leaderboard and gave me some much needed confidence going into the Mercedes championship in Germany which was why it was so disappointing to play poorly and finish way down the field. I was glad I went though as something happened that week which I found hilarious.... MORE »

Well my vow to keep the blog up to date is not going so well it would seem so I apologise for being a lazy so and so. I have found that writing this blog is a little like going to the gym. If you do it regularly then it is no problem whatsoever, however miss one work out and three weeks can fly by without so much as a bicep curl being done.

Anyhow, what has been going on recently?  The Dutch open has come and gone with a victory for my pal Darren Clarke on a fantastic Dutch links course, in foul weather. In fact, it could almost have been an Irish open I guess so maybe it was... MORE »

The Open Championship has for twelve years been the tournament I have consistently performed worst in, which has always been a bit of a pain seeing as it is the biggest event in world golf. Forty fifth was until this year my best finish, not exactly awe inspiring to say the least. That being said I have had my moments over the years, have got myself onto the leader board at times and have missed the cut from seemingly impossible positions. Royal Troon comes to mind, out in five under back in seven over to miss the cut by one, would you believe.

This year it was back to Royal Birkdale, scene of my greatest triumph to date, forty fifth back... MORE »

Well my endeavours to keep up to date with my blogs is going as well as my promise to myself to hit a few more low scores, but after an amazing final round at the London Club yesterday I thought it about time I put a few thoughts down on paper again.

Ross Fisher made the game look very easy in hitting 16 greens to cruise to victory and put himself in line to make the Ryder cup team, on a day so windy even the Jockey, bib fitted with safety pins for a tighter fit, spray on vest and all those muscles to boot , nearly blew off the side of Kent's highest hillside, other wise known as the London... MORE »

Sorry everyone, its safe to say I have been really lazy of late and five weeks of no blogging is totally unacceptable. Consider myself reprimanded and please know that I vow not to be so lazy again.

So what has  been going on during these past few weeks.    Golf wise it has not been worth writing about. Tired and jet lagged after China I decided to take an extra week off and wait until Ireland to return to competitive action.  This resulted in missing the cut by one shot after making a hash of the last two holes.

Wentworth started promisingly and ended in disappointment with a terrible weekend performance to finish at the back of the pack and then we headed... MORE »

Well that was some week, let me tell you. After teeing off on Thursday, having played terribly in the pro-am and with no real confidence in how I was controlling the ball, I endeavoured to keep an open mind as to how the day would pan out. Stood on my 15th hole at five under par, it just goes to show what keeping an open mind can do for your score.

However, after dropping all five of those shots over the final four holes - including two thinned bunker shots, one of which ended in a water hazard to lead to a triple bogey eight on my final hole - I did not know whether to laugh or cry.

The week continued... MORE »

As you know, I normally only add a diary piece after every event that I've played in. However, I thought I'd make an exception to that rule for the major weeks of the year so here are my thoughts from the year's first big event.

As a boy I used to turn on the television on Saturday night with great anticipation, to see Steve Ryder present coverage of the first big golf tournament of the year from the stunning Augusta National. The spring time colours were always a pleasure to tune into and it always felt like the start of the golfing season.

Back in the late eighties the coverage of The Masters was very limited as I remember it, with only... MORE »

They say no one remembers who came second and of course they are right, so Gregory Bourdy will always be remembered as the 2008 Portuguese Open Champion - a title he fully deserves after leading all week and then having to come from behind to force a three way play-off on the final day.

Alistair Forsyth had to head home disappointed at not winning his second event in a month, when he fell short on the second play-off hole. A pulled drive left his ball in a bush on the uncompromising 18th hole of the wonderful Oitavos Dunes course, just outside of Lisbon in the sublime little town of Cascais. After finishing with two birdies to force his way into the... MORE »

"So how did the new equipment work out then?" I hear you wonder. Well, if you followed my progress at Bay Hill, you will have noticed that I was not around for the weekend again - another big disappointment.

I had all the reasons in the world to play well this week, especially with sixteen of the Broome Manor boys cheering me on from behind the ropes, and my girlfriend Emily to entertain as well. It sounded like I was the local boy when I was announced on the tee for the first round, with my playing partners who actually were local wondering why I had brought my own gallery with me. The lads were in the area on a golf... MORE »

"So how did the new equipment work out then?" I hear you wonder. Well, if you followed my progress at Bay Hill, you will have noticed that I was not around for the weekend again - another big disappointment.

I had all the reasons in the world to play well this week, especially with sixteen of the Broome Manor boys cheering me on from behind the ropes, and my girlfriend Emily to entertain as well. It sounded like I was the local boy when I was announced on the tee for the first round, with my playing partners who actually were local wondering why I had brought my own gallery with me. The lads were in the area on a golf... MORE »

I am pretty sure that on more than one occasion in my blogs I have mentioned how lucky I am to play the game I love for a living.

Allow me to express myself a little today and please don't take this the wrong way if you are reading this from behind your desk at the office, wishing you were outside on a nice green golf course, fresh air in your lungs, with good company to help you relax and enjoy a wonderful round of golf.

And also please acknowledge that I am fully aware that among my peers my lot is still a great one, with twelve years of great experiences, tournament victories, Ryder cups and many other fantastic privileges that... MORE »

So my first trip to India turned out to be an unsuccessful one, when I had what they call an 'early bath' and headed home on Friday night. Four events played, two missed cuts, one top ten finish and an average week in Dubai was not the greatest of starts to the New Year. However, the one massive positive is that my back held up really well for the whole month, and that certainly is the most important thing to have come out of the extended trip.

On the course, my game was a big disappointment following two slightly better weeks. The Jockey and I had a good old laugh at least, when I made the most ridiculous birdie on the... MORE »

I arrived in Dubai absolutely shattered after my exploits in Qatar, and myself and The Jockey checked into the Mina Al Salem Hotel at the Madinat Jumeirah. I think this was up to The Jockey's standards, although he did mention that my room seemed to face the sea, whilst his only looked over the Burj Al Arab Hotel (the world's most stunning hotel). In any case, a good night's rest was had and on Monday we made our way to the Emirates Golf Club to take part in a photo shoot for Golf Monthly, which I am guest editor of this month.

The magazines like to get as many shoots as possible done in Dubai, as they count on the weather... MORE »

Wild Bill you may ask? That's me folks, named by my playing partners this week Rory McIlroy and Peter Hanson, and we know who The Kid is of course from last week. (The Jockey in case you missed an instalment)

This week's entertainment all came by way of the golf for once. "Thank goodness!" I hear you cry, and you are right of course - it's all very well having tales to tell of life on the road, but I am supposed to be out here earning a living and competing with my peers,  and finally by hook or by crook (or more specifically by slice) I finished seventh in Qatar.

Normally when you finish in the top ten of a European... MORE »

So here it is, the first instalment for the New Year, and I hope it is a good one for all of you out there who read this. Thanks for your support. 

The New Year got off to an unfortunate start to be honest when my manager, Chubby, rang to say that the invite for the Royal Trophy that I was so delighted to receive came to nothing when the tournament was cancelled one week before it was scheduled to take place, sadly due to a death in the Thai Royal Family. This came as a bit of a shock for The Jockey, who found out by text from me just as he was about to get in a cab.... MORE »