If Darren Clarke was supposed to make a splash when he joined PGA TOUR Champions it hasn’t happened.

The Irishman has had time to dip his toe, squeezing in 17 events since turning 50 in August, with three top 10s to show for it – all achieved this year.

The good news is Clarke is coming off one of them – a T4 at the Mastercard Japan Championship – as he prepares for this week’s American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge Golf Club in Madison, Wisconsin. It will be his first appearance at the AmFam, the event hosted by Steve Stricker that quickly has established itself as one of the PGA TOUR Champions premier events.

“The course was really, really good. Fantastic condition,” Clarke said after Wedneday’s pro-am. “We had a little bit of rain this morning as you’re aware and the greens slowed down a little bit. I spoke to a few of the guys that played yesterday and the greens were really fast and really firm, so probably played a little bit easier today than it did yesterday. But I really enjoyed the golf course.”

Clarke’s year to date has been a mixed bag. He started well, with a T10 at the Oasis Classic in Boca Raton, Florida, a T16 at the Chubb Classic in Naples, Florida, and a T2 at the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona. But then he stumbled, placing no higher than a T27 at the Regions Tradition before the trip to Japan.

“I’m still excited about being out here,” Clarke said. “I’m playing and trying to compete. I’ve got to rediscover how to score again, I think that’s the big thing. I mean, you can play well, but the days you don’t play well, when you don’t play that much competitive golf, you lose the knack to turn maybe a 74, 75 into a 70 or 69. The guys do that out here. The other guys, whenever they’re not doing that, they’re shooting 64, 65. The standard is really, really high. The guys go low.

“So, you know, adjusting from usually a four-round tournament to a three-round tournament has taken a little bit of time as well. Course management changes. You tend to maybe go with things a little bit more than you would in a four-round tournament. So I’m still getting used to it a little bit, but I’m really enjoying my time out here. Really enjoying the golf courses, the tournaments. The guys, catching up with a lot of the guys that I used to play with on the PGA TOUR. So all in all, if I could hole a couple more putts, it would be even more fun.”

Putting has been one problem area for Clarke. He ranks 36th in putting average, which won’t get him into the winner’s circle. But everything else seems to be in line. He’s 19th in greens in regulation, third in driving distance and seventh in birdie average. He doesn’t hit a ton of fairways (59th in driving accuracy), but what big hitter does? He appears to be having little trouble hitting 9-iron or pitching wedge from the rough to the green.

The adjustment to three rounds is a frequently mentioned topic regarding the transition to the PGA TOUR Champions. These events, any player will say, are sprints. One bad round can remove all hope of contending. Clarke put together rounds of 68-70-69 in Japan to finish 9 under, four in back of champion Scott McCarron.

Clarke will get a chance to play three four-round events the rest of his summer. After the three-round AmFam Championship, it’s the U.S. Senior Open. He’ll skip the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, then it’s on to European soil for The Open Championship and The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex.

Clarke only just arrived in Wisconsin from Northern Ireland, having played some practice rounds at his home course, Royal Portrush, which will play host to The Open Championship July 18-21. He won The Open Championship in 2011 at Royal St. Georges.

Clarke couldn’t be more excited to see The Open return to Portrush for the first time since 1951.

“I’ve just been at home all last week, played the golf course a couple of times,” Clarke said. “Prior to last week I haven’t been home in Portrush since 7th in December last year, so I’ve missed all of the grandstands, everything that goes along with getting the tournament ready for The Open. To see it and play the golf course with all those stands up, it’s totally different from what it normally would look.

“But the course is fabulous. They need a little bit of a burst of warm weather. They haven’t had that much, so the rough is still thick but not as -- what’s the word -- not as consistently thick as they would like. But if they got a couple of days of warm weather, that will shoot up really quick. But the course is going to be fabulous. The guys are going to love it. It’s a very fair, tough test of golf, and I know the R&A are very excited about everyone going there, as is the whole town of Portrush is all buzzing, the whole country is buzzing. I think the people that do make it to Portrush are going to have a wonderful experience and really enjoy themselves.”