DAVID Howell was forced to withdraw from this morning’s Maybank Championship Malaysia second round because of a foot injury.

The Swindon golfer took to Twitter to explain his premature departure from the event, citing a long-term problem with his left foot.

The 40-year-old has already returned home to Dubai and is set to undergo scans to ascertain a full diagnosis of the problem tomorrow.

Howell stated that the injury had effected his first round performance in Kuala Lumpur, where he posted a two-over round of 73 to finish the day in a tie for 102nd place.

“It’s be playing with me all year. It’s a problem that we’ve managed for quite some time,” Howell told the Adver.

“It’s an area of the body that’s always given me jip but this calendar year it’s really flared up. I had an injection last week but clearly that hasn’t done enough.

“It was affecting me a lot yesterday. I was in a lot of pain and could barely swing the club.

“I’m back in Dubai already and I’ll go for a scan and we’ll try to work out what’s going on. We have got to get a clear prognosis of it.”