David able to laugh off Howell-er

David Howell brought back memories of Hale Irwin at the 1983 Open today when he missed the ball on a tap-in putt.

Thankfully for Howell the blunder was not as costly. Irwin finished one shot behind Tom Watson, whereas the Swindon player, for whom the USPGA championship was his first tournament since tearing an abdominal muscle at the US Open in June, had no chance of making the halfway cut.

“It’s a valuable lesson, though,” said Howell after a 70 for eight over par. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done that in my career.

“I went to tap it in back-handed, but I’m using a shorter putter and missed it. Thank goodness it did not cost me dearly.”

Brian Davis also crashed out of the event on eight over following two 74s, but Paul Casey had to wait to discover if a closing birdie got him into the final two rounds at four over.

Casey’s tee shot to the 212-yard ninth, his last, was only a few inches from a hole-in-one.