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Howell withdraws from Wentworth

21/05/2007

Defending champion David Howell has pulled out of this week's BMW PGA Championship through injury.

The Englishman has been plagued by back problems this season and has decided to withdraw from the tournament at the Wentworth Club.

Howell, 31, said he could not risk suffering long-term damage.

"I hit 50 shots today [Monday] just as I did two days ago to see how it felt. Unfortunately I wasn't pain-free," Howell said.

"I have had scans on the SI joint [sacroiliac joint at the base of the spine] and it shows signs of strain.

"I wanted to give it a shot and I checked with the physio but we felt it was really too soon to play.

"At the end of the day it was a common sense decision. The scans had shown inflammation and I didn't want to endanger my health for other big events later in the season. It was close, but not close enough."

Seven players from the top 15 of the official world golf rankings will lead the quest for the €725,000 first prize.

Any one of five of the world's top ten - Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Henrik Stenson, Retief Goosen and Luke Donald - could be installed as the favourites to triumph.

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