Donald finding it tough while Howell is feeling rough

Just as Luke Donald suffered a succession of early blows in his duel with Tiger Woods today, a concerned David Howell revealed he had come close to pulling out of the United States PGA championship in Chicago.

With less than five weeks to go to the Ryder Cup Howell, who leads the points race, crashed to an horrific 82 after suffering a shoulder problem warming up.

The Swindon golfer, also bothered by his right knee, said: “I felt my shoulder on my last few shots on the range and thought nothing of it.

“But it soon became a bit of a problem and I thought about withdrawing with five to play. I don’t like to blame adversity, but clearly it was affecting me.”

The knee soreness came in his third round and Howell, with a long history of injuries in his career, said: “I’m in the wars.”

He is due to play in the Bridgestone world golf championship event in Ohio this coming week and added: “I’ll go and get treatment. I should peg it up at least (in the first round on Thursday) because I need to get in my 15 starts over there.”

That is the minimum number to keep his US Tour membership, but the more immediate priority, obviously, is the Ryder Cup.

Howell resumed on one under par but had four bogeys in an outward 40 and then, after a birdie at the long 10th, bogeyed the next, double-bogeyed the short 13th and 392-yard 15th, then bogeyed the 16th and 18th.

It left the 31-year-old European Order of Merit leader nine over par just as Donald and Woods teed off on 14 under.

Howell, conqueror of Woods in Shanghai last November, missed two months last year after tearing a stomach muscle and was out for a month after the Masters this April with a back injury.

His health is bound now to be a ocus of attention in the coming weeks, but it was Donald and Woods who held centre stage.

On their resumption Donald, who knew the size of the task facing him, saw the world number one draw first blood when he converted a 10-foot birdie chance on the opening green.

After six holes Donald was not even second any more and four behind. He had his first bogey in 40 holes when he could not save par on the fourth after driving into a divot hole, then missed a three-footer at the long next and so failed to match Woods’s two-putt birdie.

Woods, poised to go second in the all-time list with his 12th major, then moved to 17 under with a 35-footer on the sixth after Donald had lipped out from just outside him.

Canadian Mike Weir, who scored 80 when he was in Donald’s position at the same event on the same course in 1999, moved into second spot with birdies at the third and fifth, but was three behind on 14 under.

Donald was third one further back and Australian Adam Scott’s outward 31 brought him into fourth. He had shared that position with Sergio Garcia, the man who was runner-up at Medinah seven years ago, but the Spaniard bogeyed the long seventh.

Ian Poulter, meanwhile, was joint 12th – not where he wanted to be to re-ignite his Ryder Cup hopes.

The statistics had been frightening for Donald as he prepared for the biggest challenge of his life.

Woods was not just going for a second successive major after his triumph in the Open at Hoylake last month, but also a third tournament win in a row.

He has won all his 11 majors when holding at least a share of the lead with a round to go. He has shot in the 60s in 13 of his last 14 rounds, the last of them a course record-equalling 65 that was only one off his lowest-ever round in a major, and he won this title when it was last held at the course in 1999.

Donald said in March that he thought the only way for him to catch up with the 30-year-old American superstar was to “start believing I’m as good as him“.

It raised a few eyebrows at the time. His only top-10 finish in a major was when he burst out of the pack into third place in last year’s Masters by covering the last eight holes in six under.

And even then he finished seven behind Woods.

As for the American Ryder Cup race, Tim Herron looked the only player in with a chance of forcing himself into the top 10 in this their final counting event.

The joint halfway leader was eighth with a round to go and needed to finish seventh. He got there with two early birdies, but with nine to play was lying joint ninth.

The player sweating on his spot in the team was Brett Wetterich, who had missed the halfway cut.