WHILE THE clock might be ticking towards the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, where he will have a back-up role to Colin Montgomerie, the season is starting to get serious in its own right for Darren Clarke, who has his eye on some personal boxes to tick to ensure the 2011 season will be fruitful.

Now that he has completed his move back home to Portrush, where his boys, Tyrone and Conor, have settled into a school, Clarke resumes tournament play at this week’s Omega European Masters in Crans, Switzerland, determined to make inroads on the Race to Dubai and on the world rankings.

Now 26th on the European Tour money list and 99th in the world, Clarke knows a strong finish to the season can bring its own rewards.

“I want to try to get as far up the money list as I can to get into the (British) Open, to get into the US Open, all of that . . . I’m happy with the way I am playing,” he said.

Clarke wants to get into the top-15 on the European Tour money list, which earns an exemption into next year’s British and US Opens, while top 20 would get him into the WGC-CA Championship in Doral.

On the world front, he needs to move back into the top-64 to get into the WGC Matchplay.

As such, this week’s tournament in Crans – where Clarke is joined in a strong Irish contingent by fellow Ryder Cup vice-captain Paul McGinley, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin – kick-starts a hectic schedule that will see the Ulsterman play in the Netherlands and maybe Austria before the shindig in Celtic Manor. That’s followed by a stretch that takes in the Dunhill Links, the Portuguese Masters, the Castellan Masters and the Andalucia Masters, before taking off to play in Singapore and Hong Kong ahead of Dubai.

Simon Thornton, meanwhile, must wait to see if he will get a place in the field in Crans. The Co Down-based player is fourth on the reserve list, and will require players to withdraw to get a call-up as he seeks to guarantee his card for next season.

Only two members of Europe’s new Ryder Cup team are in action, Johnnie Walker champion Edoardo Molinari, up to a career high 15th in the world, and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

For the Spaniard, this marks the 22nd consecutive year he will have competed in the European Masters – but he is still awaiting a first win in the tournament, which last year began the qualifying process for the Ryder Cup.

Meanwhile, Gary Murphy, who has endured a tough time on tour this season, has entered next week’s Kazakhstan Open – one of the richest tournaments on the Challenge Tour – as a fall-back in case he fails to get into the Dutch Open on the main tour.

Colm Moriarty, who is 41st on the money list on the Challenge Tour as he chases a card on the main circuit (the top 20 earn full tour rights), has opted to miss out on this week’s Allianz tournament in Strasbourg ahead of the big-money event in Kazakhstan.