DAVID Howell would like to end a troublesome 2016 with a good result at the Hong Kong Open.

The 41-year-old has endured a turbulent calendar year, which has seen him pegged back by a mysterious foot injury as well as a niggling wrist problem at the tail end of the campaign.

As he prepares to tee off on his first tournament of the 2017 European Tour this morning, Howell has been left frustrated as his foot injury has resurfaced yet again.

Despite this, he is looking forward to the event even if it comes at a strange time for the Swindon golfer.

“It’s been a funny period, really. My foot hasn’t been very good and I’ve seen lots of doctors about trying to get that back on track, which has been frustrating,” said Howell “I’ve played a little bit of golf in the six weeks but when you don’t play the final two tournaments (of the 2016 Tour), it certainly comes at a strange time of the year.

“It’s right in the middle of your down time, really. It doesn’t feel like the start of the season, it still feels like the end of the season.

“It’ll take a bit of getting used to, but it’s a good tournament in itself so hopefully when I get on the first tee, the juices will start flowing after a tough calendar year and I’d love to finish on a high.”

Howell picked up his foot injury at the beginning of the year when he was forced to pull at the Malaysia Maybank Championship.

As the injury continued to plague his campaign, the two-time Ryder Cup winner did think the foot problem had resolved itself towards the end of the year, before picking up a niggle in his left wrist.

“I didn’t see it coming, I thought I was over any foot issues but it hasn’t felt right since the Portugal Masters (20-23 October). It’s played on my mind a lot but I am delighted to be here,” added the two-time Ryder Cup winner.

“I’ll give it a good test and see how it copes and the best way of doing that is playing four rounds so I think I’ll have a good idea of how to move forward with the foot after this week.

“It feels like a bit of a test week, but as it happens, my game has been pretty good in practice over the last couple of days.

“The rest hasn’t done my hitting any harm whatsoever so hopefully we can still put some good scores on the board.”