SWINDON’S David Howell says that his chances of appearing at the BMW PGA Championship are 50-50 as he continues to recover from a troublesome foot injury.

The Broome Manor pro had originally targeted a return to action at last month’s Open de España but that was revised to this week’s Irish Open at The K Club.

However, having only played his first round of 18 holes last Monday, the 40-year-old is still managing his return and is hoping to return at Wentworth this week, the location of his triumph a decade ago.

“I am still recovering from the injury sustained in Dubai,” he told the Adver.

“I started to be able to hit a few balls again and played nine holes on the odd occasion and the first 18 holes on Monday (last week).

“The process is ongoing, whether I am going to be able to play this week or not is unsure but I am hopeful - it is probably 50-50.

“The pull of this week is that it is a big event that is right on my doorstep and it would be a crying shame to miss the PGA, but there is also no point in playing if I am not good enough.

“I am going to give myself right up until the last minute to decide on that and hopefully I can continue building into it over the next few days.

“As I up my workload I need to see it improve rather than go backwards."

As a result of the foot injury picked up in the Dubai Desert Classic, Howell has only competed in six events this season, completing only four, to see him drop to 143rd place in the world rankings.

However, the two-time Ryder Cup winner is not going to rush back until he is fully confident that he can compete with the best again.

“This is not what I envisaged for the start of this year at all,” he added.

“It is very frustrating but the main thing is that I get over the injury and come back fighting fit ready to crack on over the next couple of years.

“It is always a tricky balance so I am taking a lot of advice medically.

“There is no point just playing, it is about being in good enough form to feel like you can do yourself justice and not just turn up to make the numbers.

“I am at least back hitting balls and testing it out and seeing how it affects it.

“The last week has been really positive and if it improves over the next week as it has over the last then I think I will probably be able to tee up.”