DAVID Howell signed off a birthday weekend in encouraging fashion as he claimed a top-30 finish at the BMW International Open in Germany today.

The two-time Ryder Cup winner turned 43 on Saturday and marked that with his best round of week with a three-under round of 69.

Although the Swindon star was unable to improve on his two-under total after a closing level-par 72 on Sunday, it was enough to see him finish in a tie for 26th place and a prize of 18,400 Euros.

Howell had his doubts about even competing in the tournament, after revealing he was under threat of surgery having injured his shoulder.

However, the Broome Manor opted to play and reaped his rewards with his second highest finish of the season.

“The shoulder has been good. The physiotherapist has done an amazing job, I’ve just had to do a few stretches here and there to get fired up,” he said.

“It felt really good, much better than it did on Wednesday where I was very protective over it. On that night, I was still unsure if I was doing the right thing by being at the competition.

“I kept my faith and it is improving. Hopefully I can keep things moving and it might not be as serious as I was being told.

“If I continue to improve everyday, then maybe I have managed to dodge a bullet.”

Englishman Matt Wallace claimed victory at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof after a seven-under final round of 65 took him to 10-under overall, enough to top the leaderboard by a single stroke.

Looking ahead, Howell says there is still every chance his injury could flare up again, so will be taking no chances on it in the next few weeks.

“I’m not going to practice too hard on it, I’m just going to see what transpires from it. We know there is damage in there so I need to be kind to it,” he said.

“At any point, it could be awful, but then it could be a false alarm, so I’m hoping to play over the next four weeks.”