DAVID Howell has hit the rewind button on his career after revealing he is in good shape for the Scottish Open following his recent spate of injuries.

The 42-year-old has endured a torrid time on the European Tour so far this season, with the two-time Ryder Cup winner only making the cut three times this year.

During that spell, the Swindon star also had injuries to contend with. A back injury forced him to withdraw from the Nordea Masters in Sweden, before a hip problem curtailed his comeback at the BMW International Open at the end of June.

After a second injection in his hip, Howell returned, but despite failing to make the cut in his last two outings, the HNA Open de France and last week’s Irish Open, he is pleased that he has remained fit for both competitions.

“That is very positive for me. I am feeling much better than I did three or four weeks ago,” said Howell.

“I’ve got my act together a little bit, whether the injection has helped or not, I don’t know, but I am being more diligent with my health. I’m going to the gym more and I am feeling a bit better so that is good.”

When he heads to Aberdeen, the 42-year-old is looking to recreate some of the form showed in 2015, where he was able to claim seven top-10 finishes.

Howell has been working on his swing to try and replicate that form, and will hope the hard work pays off when he visits Dundonald Links Golf Course for the first time.

“I’ve not been there yet, it’s a new course to us all but I have heard it is a fairly straight forward links course,” added Howell. “It’s going to be a fresh week, I’ll hit the course once and off we go.

“Everyone is going to be in the same boat trying to find their way out. Sure enough, some people will play well and will come away liking it, but then if you miss the cut, you might not like it.

“I’ve made a bit of a decision with my swing. The last good year I had was 2015 and I feel like I have got away from a lot of things I was doing that year.

“So I have put my mind back on it to go back to 2015 from now and the rest of the season that is the plan so hopefully we can reinvigorate the season and start to play a bit better.”

Howell is due to tee off at 12:40pm, alongside Scott Henry and Bernd Ritthammer.

Fellow Wiltshire player Jordan Smith starts his bid from the 10th at 1.50pm alongside South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Taipei’s Shih-Chang Chan.