Howell looking for Tour breakthrough

David Howell will be looking to make his PGA Tour breakthrough when he takes part in this week’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

The Englishman is coming off a runaway five-shot victory at the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW Championship at Wentworth. That stellar performance stretched his lead on that tour’s money list, and rocketed him to a career-high 10th in the world rankings.

Howell had little time to celebrate the victory, flying across the Atlantic to Muirfield Village, back to the site of his first PGA Tour appearance seven years ago.

Howell, 30, is suddenly being talked about as major championship material, but he thinks he probably needs to score a breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour before he can realistically start thinking about a major championship.

“I’ve always seen my career just step by step, gradually progressing,” Howell said.

“I haven’t had a great chance to win at any tournament in America. That would be the next thing on my agenda. I would be surprised if a major came before a regular tour event, but these things can happen.”

Howell is not getting carried away with his recent form, but he is not dismissive of it either.

“I don’t think I’m better than I am and I’m not a cocky person,” Howell said. “I don’t walk around over-confident for no reason, but now I’m winning consistently. I’m more comfortable with my situation in world golf than I was when I was finishing consistently in the top five or 10, but not winning.”