GOLF: DAVID Howell insists he still has to prove himself as a Ryder Cup player after being dropped' for this morning's opening Ryder Cup matches.

The European number two was left in the cold by captain Ian Woosnam, who opted to pair in-form rookie Robert Karlsson with Howell's predicted partner Paul Casey.

Howell as always said he would be happy to sit out a session for the good of the team but having led the Order of Merit for 99 per cent of the season he will be disappointed not to get the nod for the opener.

The Swindon man said: "There are only eight places and Woosie has to do what he thinks is right.

"Hopefully the boys can go out and do well and we will be ready in the afternoon.

"We are all playing nicely. It takes a few seconds to sink in that you are not playing as you are always intrigued to see if you are or not, but we soon got over that and we are all hopeful to be playing in the afternoon and to do a job when called upon.

"I've been looking forward to playing a slightly larger role than last time, but you know, whatever is needed.

"The main thing is that we keep that beautiful gold trophy here and whatever the captain thinks is what we accept."

Howell should get a reprieve in this afternoon's fourballs and it gives him the chance to live up to the Ryder Cup hype he feels he did little to deserve last time around.

He was hailed as one of the heroes in Europe's victory in Detroit which sees them defend the trophy again this weekend, his fabled shot of the year' at the 17th in Saturday's fourballs proving a pivotal moment in a pivotal match.

But victory in that rubber alongside Casey glossed over a heavy singles defeat against Jim Furyk, although he has proved his worth to the squad in the interim.

Howell added: "Everybody thinks I played great in the last Ryder Cup.

"I only managed to sneak one point which turned into a fairly crucial one; we didn't know that at the time.

"I played poorly in the singles - so I didn't come away thinking I played just fantastic in the last one.

"But moving on from there, my self-belief improved and I've gone on to win three tournaments in that two-year period.