GOLF: David Howell admits he is gambling' on his fitness after a late birdie blitz shot him into British Masters contention after the first round at the Belfry yesterday.

The Swindon golfer had not played since he injured his back at the US Masters in mid-April but shrugged off any lingering pain to shoot two under par 70 just four shots off the lead.

Howell, who admits to being just 85 per cent fit, insisted he had no expectations going into the weekend and that his main priority was "to just get through the four rounds".

A frustrating first 14 holes around the greens saw him struggling to make any impact on the leaderboard.

But successive birdies on two of the last four holes saw him move to within four of playing partner and joint leader Darren Clarke.

Howell said: "The back is certainly not yet perfect.

"I am managing at the moment rather than curing it.

"It is the best it has felt for a long time now which is promising.

"I am taking a big gamble playing here.

"I've been in two minds about it all week, but I have all my medics here and we are discussing it all the time.

"I am not sure it is something that will get better with rest anyway. So maybe I am going to have to carry on with it, not being a 100 per cent for a while."

The 30-year-old former Churchfields school pupil has mixed memories of the British Masters after missing out on last year's title in a play-off to Thomas Bjorn.

But as far as Howell is concerned there will be no such drama this time.

The Broome Manor man, who is due to start the second round early this afternoon, said: "This was all about seeing how my body coped and that won't change for the rest of the week.

"It was a nice sunny day and I just enjoyed being out there playing again.

"That said, it would still had been easy for me to get frustrated out there so I just reminded myself why I was here.

"I was delighted with my 70, Darren (Clarke) played some fantastic stuff for his 66, but the tournament is still very early days."

A strong start to the season has ensured Howell's enforced lay-off has not jeopardised his Ryder Cup place for September.

Yet he insists nothing could be further from his mind.

He added: "There are a lot of tournaments between now and then.

"First my back needs to be sorted and then I will take it one step at a time."