Born: June 20, 1979
Birthplace: Augusta, Georgia
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155 lbs
Turned Pro: 2000
Bio
Even at the age of 25 it is hard to believe that Charles Howell hasn't won more professional golf tournaments. He is a very talented golfer with endless potential. There probably isn't a single golfer in the world that is as good off the tee as Howell. Not only is he one of the longest drivers on the Tour but he also hits the ball remarkably straight. Even under pressure you can put money on Howell hitting a good drive.
Where the young man from Augusta, Georgia does struggle is in close. His putting is very streaky, sometimes near perfect and other times ugly to watch. By his own admission his short iron and wedge shots are the areas that most need to be improved to get him to the top.
Howell came off a successful college career with Oklahoma State where he won several awards in 2000 and was recognized as the top male collegiate golfer in the NCAA. He followed that up by winning the Rookie of the Year in 2001 on the PGA Tour and winning his first professional event in 2002.
In the two seasons that followed Howell struggled off-and-on with swing and equipment changes. Towards the end of 2004 he seemed to finally move past his struggles and now appears ready to take the next leap into the top ten.
Quick Facts
PGA TOUR Victories
(1) 2002 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill.
Equipment
Swing and equipment changes in the last couple of years have derailed Howell's game somewhat but the changes seem to be clicking now and he appears ready to be a serious contender.
Over the last couple of years there has been a revolving door of drivers into the bag of Charles Howell III. He has gone through the Callaway Hawkeye VFT, the Great Big Bertha II, Fusion Prototypes, the Great Big Bertha II 415, and now on to the Big Bertha 454. Like most pros his driver is slightly shorter than standard length and he seems to favor the Graphite Design YS-7 shaft. The current model has 8.0-degrees loft.
Howell carries two Callaway fairway woods. The Big Bertha 3+ which is a 13-degree head and the 5+ which is a 17-degree head but is a little smaller than the Big Bertha 4-wood with the same loft. In both of these clubs he uses the True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts.
Irons are also changing quite often in Howell's bag. The ones he had the most success with were the Callaway X-14 Pro Series irons that he used a couple of years ago. After being told by several sources that he should switch to a forged blade to improve his distance control, Howell jumped to the Hogan irons. After finding he didn't like the smaller heads he eventually settled on a combo set made up of Callaway X-16 Pro Series irons from 3-5 and Hogan Edge Pro irons from 6-9. These were the irons in play for most of 2004. For 2005 Howell has switched to the new Callaway X-Tour irons. These appear to be the right combination of feel and forgiveness for Charles because he has gotten off to a great start so far this year. In his irons he uses the Dynamic Gold X100 shafts tip-trimmed by 1 ½" to make them stiffer and produce a lower ball flight.
Howell carries three wedges in his bag. All are Callaway Vintage Forged wedges.
Another club that changes quite often is the putter. Howell has used many different Odyssey models over the years. The one that ends up in the bag most often is a Tri-Hot model although he has also used the 2-Ball and several other models of White Hot.
Howell uses the new Callaway HX Tour 56 golf ball.