DAVID Howell has been named as the new chairman of the European Tour's players committee.

The 41-year-old has been a part of the committee for several years, but will now take over from Thomas Bjorn, who has stepped down from the role after being named as Europe's 2018 Ryder Cup skipper.

“We sit down together four or five times a year and talk about how the business side and the golf side link together,” said Howell.

“All sorts of things, slow play, Ryder Cup qualification, all have to go through the committee.

“Thomas decided to stand down. He is however still on the committee but I’ve been voted in to chair these meetings.

“It’s just a bit more interaction with the executives, to talk about anything from complaints from the players to the broad picture of where the Tour is going.

“It’s a new role for me, it’s a nice responsibility and it is a nice accolade to have as well.”

The two-time Ryder Cup star made his comeback to the Tour after more than a month but failed to make the cut by one shot at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship despite a second-round two under par 70.

“I didn’t play well on Thursday, it was a real struggle,'' added Howell, who ended one under overall. "I was poor in practice so I was a little bit out of shape to start with,” he added.

“I played much better (on Friday), I hit the ball a lot better which was really pleasing. the only negative of the day was I missed a really good chance to see me through to the weekend.

“To miss that was really disappointing because I deserved to sneak through, so that was a negative.”