David Howell Quotations

There is no doubt that buyers have more leverage than they did a year ago.

The public can be deceived into thinking that this is what they need. I'm for combining services, but I'm not for metro government.

One-up, one to play, you fancy your chances.

My expectations weren't that great at the start of this week because I haven't been playing very well over here,

I don't hit as many greens as the top players, but this weekend my ball striking was far, far better, ... I hit a lot more greens.

I didn't want to beat him too badly,

I didn't believe we should have gone in there in the first place, and I'm still against the war. But I respect anyone over there trying to do their job. It's not the troops' fault, it's the administration. (The troops are) a lot braver than me.

I am delighted really. The two dropped shots I just hit poor pitches. That was slightly frustrating but you have to be happy with 63.

But as soon as you start hitting it well, then you start expecting to score well. I am delighted to have played 26 holes so nicely today.

I fancied my chances against anyone that was left in.

Fortunately I was able to come out on top,

I got a little bit of jitters. I've made a mess of things before. But that's the difference today. This time the ball did the lap of honour and dropped in.

He drove a terrible front nine and I just didn't take advantage of it.

There is going to be a lot higher scoring than last year and I am very pleased.

He's a great player, isn't he? I'm just going to have to shoot a good score.

Going to 16, you always worry that he's going to do the miraculous shot and make a 2, and I guess there was a slight surprise that something good didn't happen for him. I was concerned that he was going to hit a 3-wood to about 15 feet, which would have made things difficult.

I was looking good for the matchplay until I had my injury, so I'm delighted I've made it.

It came as a big surprise, to be honest, ... We all assumed Luke (England's highest-ranked player) would pick Paul to defend the title, but Luke didn't think that was necessary and thought the man on form would be the pick.

It is nice playing in a tournament when you are one of the better players.

It is a pretty stern test, ... You have to keep it down the middle because of the rough.

Out of respect for our client, Mr. Cummings, we try to refrain from any comment on this situation. That being said, I will say that I disagree with that characterization. That offer was not made,

It doesn't worry me that I fly under the radar over here,

I was nervous all day, but I'm not so sure it was because of Tiger, strangely,

I was as gutted as I have ever been.

There is just a touch more self-belief about me now, ... It's riding on a crest of a wave. But I do also feel I am a better player than, say, two years ago.

When I won then, I didn't have the game. I've become one of the best players in European and around the world - it's just that my trophy cabinet is a little bare.

As I showed in the Masters, if I play decent golf I am going to do well.

Don't get me wrong, it was a big day because it was Tiger.

I've worked so hard for this win. I'm now leading the 2006 order of merit ... plus I've got some Ryder Cup points, which we're all after, so I couldn't be happier.

I've never played with him actually but he is a great player. I'm just going to have to go out and shoot a good score. You can't look at it in match play terms, but if you get to five or six under par then anyone is going to struggle to beat you. I know the crowd will be with him but that's not going to affect me. It'll make it all the more fun if I win.

It would be nice to have a bit more burden of expectation on one of these tournaments,

It was a little hard work to be honest.

Strangely I'm not that disappointed. It was just one of those days, and I just didn't play very well. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

An enemy makes a true friends value apparent.

As a kid, I never dreamed I'd be the 13th best player in the world but I have an inkling I can go even further,

This game will never be too easy but it's quite enjoyable at the moment I will admit.

A birdie at the 10th really settled the nerves.

It was certainly better than I expected. You always come into these things with a pessimistic attitude.

It was coming really. I have rarely gone a day without firing a bogey and to have two days without one would have been amazing. I played well although I really didn't feel comfortable out there,

It was always going to be a big challenge, in his hometown.

It was the classic game of two halves. I was in complete control and Steve wasn't playing great. I had every chance to close it out nice and early but then I played poorly in the middle and then he was probably disappointed not to win being one up with two to play. Fortunately, I was the lucky one.

It's going to be touch and go. We will have to wait and see.

David and I are good friends, so it should be nice out there tomorrow. This is a strong field, so it would be a great win if I can get it - but any one of four or five players, if they get hot, still has a chance.

It was more chaotic than I thought it was going to be, ... Lots of guys talk about the noise when they play Tiger, and it is pretty bad. I'm quite pleased with myself the way I handled myself.

It was more chaotic than I thought it was going to be,

It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I couldn't do anything right, for love nor money.

It's very pleasant, not overly difficult. There's going to be a birdie fest. And that's probably not a bad way to have it.

It's very pleasant, not overly difficult, ... There's going to be a birdie fest. And that's probably not a bad way to have it.

It was a frustrating way to finish, but I was lucky my second shot bounced over the ditch so I suppose it evens out/I played really nicely.

I was 5 under today. At this stage in the tournament, that's the standard where you need to be.

I'm not kidding myself that I'm anywhere near as good as Tiger but who knows? I've got to shoot another two 67s. It's in my own hands.

I'm not kidding myself that I'm anywhere near as good as Tiger but who knows? ... I've got to shoot another two 67s. It's in my own hands.

I'm delighted to finally win. I just tried to be aggressive - I knew the other guys wouldn't back down.

I'm delighted really. My caddie just gave me a telling off as I was a little disappointed to finish five, five. But I have just had my joint best score and my best score two days in a row, so I have got to be happy.

I'm a better player than I thought I ever would be and I'm still not satisfied and I think I can be better.

I'm very ambitious and winning events like this HSBC Champions tournament is the sort of stuff I want to be doing,

I'm not a person who has fabulous highs or unbelievable lows,

I knew the guys would be making plenty of birdies, so they weren't going to make it easy for me,

I'm really pleased to get round without a bogey, ... We could just do with some nice weather and everything would be great.

I had no idea he was ill. Although I did notice he was getting increasingly sicker by the 13th.

I just told myself I was the best putter in the world and went for it.

I hit it perfect and it just kept coming back, ... The crowd cheered, and then booed, and it just hung there.

I played really nicely and gave myself lots of chances but didn't take many of them. If I can just turn it up a little notch over the weekend I should be in good shape.

If you stand up to Tiger ... it would be strange to be intimidated by anybody else.

I don't think that happens to golfers too often. But maybe my swing is better than it was before the accident, so maybe it was a good thing.

I didn't realise the numbers were quite that good. To beat Thomas is a great win for me and I'm delighted.

Chaos surrounds him out there. I had to handle it for five minutes at the end today and I was frustrated. He probably deals with that every day.

Hopefully I'll be up to the pressure tomorrow. At this stage of my career, third or fourth place is nice, but it is all about winning.

I am pleased with my week's work but a bit disappointed. I got myself to seven under and if I had had a good strong finish I could have posted a good total.

All in all it was a bit of a struggle.

Andrew played fantastically well and put the pressure on me. He wasn't going to let up.