Jan. 10, 2005 – David Howell of England has won The Royal Bank of Scotland Shot of the Year Award for the superb tee shot he played during The 35th Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan. The 29-year old Englishman will receive The Royal Bank of Scotland Shot of the Year Trophy and a charitable cheque for £2000, which he has asked to be donated to the Tsunami Disaster Appeal Fund.
Howell and fellow countryman, Paul Casey, were one down with two holes to play against Americans Chad Campbell and Jim Furyk after 16 holes in the Saturday morning four-ball match.
Howell then proceeded to strike a magnificent six iron from 203 yards to within five feet of the pin at the 17th hole and rolled in the putt for a birdie two to square the match. The Europeans then won the final hole to secure a victory, which proved pivotal in the outcome of the Matches.
At one point, the Europeans were in danger of losing the session 4-0 but fought back to end the morning 1 ½ - 2 ½ and the point supplied by Casey and Howell was hailed by their team-mates as the inspiration to go on and win the afternoon foursomes session 3-1.
Howell said: “At the time, Paul and I were only concerned with trying to get something from the match after Chad holed a long putt on the 16th. We would probably have accepted a half after being one down with two to play but to get a full point was, in hindsight, very important in the context of that day’s play.
“I knew my tee shot at the 17th needed to be a good one and in all honesty it wasn’t the purest strike of my life. However it went dead straight and released nicely to within five feet. It was a great feeling to see the ball so close to the hole and even better to make the putt to square the match.”
In second place was the 274 yard three wood shot executed by England’s Ian Poulter at the last hole of the BMW International Open in Munich. Poulter’s prosects of qualifying for The Ryder Cup were receding after a quadruple bogey at the tenth hole in the final round. However he covered the last eight holes in six under par to claim the final automatic place in the European Team, helped by that three wood to eight feet for an eagle three.
Third place in the annual awards went to Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, who holed his tee shot at the 188 yard 16th hole in the final round of the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Tied for the lead at the time with Australian Brad Kennedy, Jaidee’s ace ensured that he captured his first title on The European Tour International Schedule.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Shot of the Month Award, in association with The European Tour, Sky Sports and Golf Weekly, is presented to the Tour Member for the shot judged to be the most outstanding played during each calendar month on The European Tour International Schedule. The winning shots from each month were entered towards The Royal Bank of Scotland Shot of the Year Award.
The full list of contenders for the 2004 award were: Trevor Immelman (December/January), Thongchai Jaidee (February), Colin Montgomerie (March), Graeme McDowell (April), Barry Lane (May), Retief Goosen (June), Thomas Levet (July), Ian Poulter (August), David Howell (September) and Sergio Garcia (October).
Source: The PGA European Tour
