SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- David Howell and Rodney Dangerfield must have something in common.

The young Englishman was celebrating with his Ryder Cup teammates in a Detroit bar on Sunday evening a year ago after the Europeans trounced the Americans 18½ to 9½. Drinks were flowing freely and the bill was growing ever larger.

Howell didn’t have any cash on him, but that hardly seemed to matter. At least, not until the amiable Europeans began to mingle with the crowd, and Howell was suddenly out of the shadow of his more well-known teammates.

Howell, who went 1-1 in his Ryder Cup debut, stepped up to the bar to order another drink. He asked the bartender to put it on their tab -- only this time, as Dangerfield might say, Howell didn't get any respect.

“I asked him for another drink, and the waiter looked like I was from another planet,” Howell said. “It was very bizarre, so slightly embarrassing. That’s all right. I don’t mind flying in under the radar.

“I’ll just make sure I take some cash (next time).”

Howell, who is playing in the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship, will get another taste of team golf next month when he partners with Luke Donald to represent England at the World Golf Championships-Algarve World Cup in Portugal. The English are the defending champs.

ANOTHER GOAL FOR TIGER: Tiger Woods has earned more than $8,613,024 this year, but he’s still about $2.3 million shy of the single-season earnings record set by Vijay Singh last year.

Asked whether he was aiming at that mark, which Woods previously owned, the game’s No. 1 player was coy.

“I don’t know what it is,” Woods said. “Where am I at? I don’t know where I’m at.”

Told he was gaining on $9 million, Woods said, “I’d better win some tournaments, then.”

The American Express Championship would be a good start. The winner’s share of the $7.5 million purse is $1.3 million.

Not that Woods is counting, though.