GOLFER David Howell will make a last-minute decision on whether he will play at the Rocco Forte Open this week.

The 41-year-old has entered the event and was given a tee time of 8am BST in Sicily for the first round this morning but may not feature due to personal reasons.

Howell has struggled to get off the mark so far this season as he has failed to make the cut in all but one of the tournaments he has played this year.

His most recent outing came at the Volvo Open in China, where he did make it to the latter stages of the competition, which ended a five-month wait, before seeing his progress stutter on the final day.

After making his first cut, he then finished the tournament in disappointing fashion as he slipped to a tied 56th place finish, with a score of three-under par.

However, Howell will not be the county’s only representative in Italy as Jordan Smith will also be competing.

The 24-year-old, from Derry Hill, has enjoyed a fine start to life at golf’s highest level following his European Challenge Tour Order of Merit success last year.

Despite his good start, Smith had a bit of a wobble during his last competition in China, where he failed to make the cut.

Smith had made a promising start in Asia when he collected a three-under par 69 to give him a good chance of making the cut in Beijing.

But he failed to convert that good start as he washed up in a tie for 69th place with a score of level par.

The Wiltshire ace will now look to get back on track during this week’s trip to Italy, when he tees off at 12.15pm alongside Paul Peterson and Julien Quesnye.