England's David Howell ended seven years in the golfing wilderness with a
sudden-death playoff victory over American Peter Uihlein in the Alfred
Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrew's, Scotland on Sunday.The 38-year-old Howell, a former world No 9 and a member of two victorious European Ryder Cup teams, clinched victory with a birdie at the second extra hole.
Howell and Uihlein were tied at 23 under par at the end of the tournament, a pro-am event in which players alternate between three courses over the first three days, before the top 60 pros and the top 20 teams compete in the final round.
Uihlein, 24, who carded a 60 in his second round, took a two-shot lead into the final day but Howell came home with a five-under par 67 to the American's 69 to force the playoff.
England's Tom Lewis put himself in contention with a final- round 64 but he fell just short on 22 under par for a share of third place with Ireland's Shane Lowry.
Howell's last victory came in the European Tour's flagship PGA Championship at Wentworth seven years ago, several months after holding off Tiger Woods to clinch the HSBC Champions Tournament.
But injury and a loss of form sent him plummeting outside the top 500 in the world rankings in 2010 before beginning a climb back in which he will now re-enter the top 100.
"As a pro, to win at the home of golf is quite amazing. It has been a long, long road from the depths of despair," he told Sky Sports.
"I have had a lot of support from people around me and this is for them, too. It is sweet (to win) and a dream. "
Howell, whose wife Emily is expecting twins in December, added: "The downs were pretty low and I lost my way in life and on the Tour as well.
"Off-course I was not a happy camper and made some bad decisions around 2008 and took some time to sort through them. I owe Emily a debt of gratitude for having me back and showing me that we were always going to be a happy couple in the end.
"This is a sweet moment to be happy and settled with Emily and Freddie at home and the twins on the way and to win a massive championship seals the deal."
It was Howell's fifth appearance in a playoff - and his first victory.
LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES
265 - David Howell 67 68 63 67 (won at second play-off hole), Peter Uihlein (USA) 71 60 65 69
266 - Shane Lowry 68 66 64 68, Tom Lewis 64 65 73 64
267 - Tommy Fleetwood 65 66 69 67
268 - Garth Mulroy (RSA) 66 69 65 68
269 - Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 67 69 63 70, Chris Wood 66 69 69 65, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 68 68 66 67, Martin Kaymer (GER) 69 66 63 71, Thomas Levet (FRA) 68 64 68 69
270 - Hennie Otto (RSA) 68 63 69 70, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 66 74 66 64, Chris Paisley 72 62 66 70, Darren Clarke 69 66 66 69, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 70 65 67 68
271 - Ernie Els (RSA) 69 65 64 73, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 70 68 63 70, Scott Jamieson 71 65 67 68
272 - David Horsey 66 70 65 71, Paul McGinley 70 68 67 67, Christopher Doak 70 67 63 72, Julien Quesne (FRA) 69 66 67 70
273 - Joost Luiten (NED) 67 63 68 75, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 69 65 70 69
Selected others
277 - Padraig Harrington 76 66 64 71
278 - Paul Casey 74 67 62 75
282 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 70 68 68 76
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