DAVID Howell will head out on to the first tee at Royal Troon this morning hoping to at least emulate his Open result of two years ago.

The 41-year-old headed to Hoylake in 2014 having failed to qualify for the most prestigious tournament on the golfing calendar for the previous three years.

However, the two-time Ryder Cup winner, who started with a level par round on The Wirral, finished tied 15th with an overall score of eight-under and banked more than €86,000 in the process.

While the Broome Manor pro is well aware that he heads into the 145th Open Championship on the Ayrshire coast in a season of frustration due to a foot injury and form, he is not letting that play on his mind.

“In terms of build-up practice and preparation – this week has been very good,” Howell told the Adver.

“I played a good 18 holes on Monday, I didn’t do too much on Tuesday and I had another practice round on Wednesday.

“I feel like I’m swinging the club well and I have met up with my putting coach this week and he has opened my eyes to a couple of things.

“The body is feeling good so there can be no excuses on that front this week. The foot is still not quite there but it is not causing me any problems.

“My best performance in terms of results was two years ago when I finished 15th at Hoylake and something like that again would be very nice.”

The Swindon ace, who is set to tee off at 11.47am this morning alongside American Tony Finua and Korean Seungyul Noh, says that the week playing for the coveted Claret Jug is always special.

“The Open week is always good – it is a bit special,” added Howell, who will begin his second round on Friday morning at 6.46am.

“I’m very happy with the draw that I have got – especially the tee time on the Friday.

“You always check the weather to see if you can take advantage of the early morning calmness and hopefully I can do that on Friday.”