DAVID Howell is aiming for a couple of ‘mini-successes’ in his final two European Tour events of the 2019 season – starting with a made cut at the French Open at Le Golf National this week.

The Swindon golfer pulled out of last week’s Italian Open – citing a shoulder problem – after shooting an eight-over first round of 79, and has not made the weekend of a tournament since the European Masters at the end of August.

With just two events remaining until Howell can wave goodbye to the lowest earning season of his professional career, the two-time Ryder Cup winner has set his sights low for the coming week, stating that hitting a few more greens would constitute a degree of success.

Looking ahead to the tournament which will be played on the most recent Ryder Cup course, Howell said: “My expectations are not high. I just want to hit a few more greens, and the goal for the next couple of weeks is to make the cut and build a tiny bit of momentum before I have a month off ahead of next season.

“It would be a hard break to go into with no mini-successes even, in this period of time.

“As always, I’m open-minded to a great week, but realistically, I just want to play better, and a top-40 finish would tick the box for that mini-success this week.”

The 44-year-old has not had much success to feed off this season and has therefore changed the way he approaches tournament play for this week.

Howell remained tight-lipped on exactly how this plan would work for him, but believes now that keeping his European Tour card by qualifying in the top 120 players is nigh on impossible, he must already begin to think about giving himself the best possible chance to succeed when next season comes around.

Howell said: “It will be a slightly different approach this week for me. I’ve been working on thinking about the game differently.

“I have a different plan to stick to, mentally, so we’ll see how that pans out for me.

“I’ve got to keep my mind in the right place throughout these rounds.

“With the way the year has gone, it’s become tougher and tougher to do, but I’m re-energised on the fact that I’ve got to keep my mind in the right place this week.”