Tour award for Howell

Ryder Cup star David Howell’s magnificent victory over Tiger Woods in the HSBC Champions tournament in China has earned him the European Tour golfer of the month award for November.

The Swindon-born golfer, 30, held off the challenge of the world number one in Shanghai to claim his third European Tour title, rocketing him to the top of the embryonic 2006 Order of Merit and going a long way to securing his place in next year’s Ryder Cup.

Howell beat fellow Englishman and European team member Paul Casey, victor in the Volvo China Open, and the Wales World Cup winners of Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge to the award.