Happy new decade everyone!  I hope the New Years resolutions are being upheld so far. I can proudly say that I have kept my own promise not answer any more calls from Jenifer Aniston and I can only hope she now gets the message.

A lot has happened since I last wrote a blog so I think a little catching up should be done before talking about this week. Firstly the Jockey sacked me late last year after two unsatisfactory seasons together when the offer of his old job with Anders Hansen came up. We are still good friends and he assures me he will not be jealous when I start to play like I did before he brought me down!! Joking aside I wish Nick well, as a good caddy and person he deserves some success for the loyalty he showed me through my (I hope mini) slump.

My new man on the bag is Vernon Cook who has yet to earn a good nick name so will simply be known as Vern until I know him well enough to take the mickey publicly out of him.

Also another change has come about and Jamie Gough is no longer advising me on my technique and my old coach and friend Clive tucker has once again taken up the reigns in steering my game in the right direction, ie the short grass.

The winter has been spent largely in sunny Dubai with my wife and various friends and family have graced us with their presence making the off season a very enjoyable one.

The new season started in South Africa in calamitous style when the worlds favorite airline sent all three of my bags to New York under the surname Bennet instead of to Johannesburg under the name Howell which one would have thought a sensible option as my name is Howell and I was flying to Johannesburg.

Still at least they did locate my case on the Friday of that event even if I was now on my way to Dubai having easily missed the cut with Anders Hansen’s discarded new set of irons that even he did not like.

The clubs finally arrived at midnight on the Tuesday of Abu Dabhi so it's safe to say they are not in my good books, those nice people from British Airways.

So to the golf, I finally made the cut in Abu Dabhi for the first time which was a miracle considering I was in the desert more than I was on the fairway. On a positive note my attitude and short game was that of the old Howeller so after my first lesson in a year with Tucker on the Monday I headed to Qatar, a favourite venue of mine with renewed vigour.

Sadly, three hooks on the last four holes on Thursday in windy conditions turned an average day into a bad one and a 71 on Friday was not enough to see me through to the weekend.

I write this overlooking the Emirates course on the eve of the Classic, this year being played on the same course but with rough that looks like it has been grown with the help of steroids not fertilizer. Seeing as I have been so slack of late I vow to add to this weeks blog over the course of this week's event so if any one is still logging on to my website look out for positive updates over the next four days. And if anyone bumps into Jennifer Aniston please tell her I really am not interested.