Luke Donald adds his weight to campaign getting behind Paul McGinley as Europe's next Ryder Cup captain "I do believe that if Paul doesn't get it this year, he probably won't get it at all, whereas, I feel like Darren will have other opportunities," said the former world No 1. From a personal point of view, and probably because I have spoken a little bit more to Paul, I find him a little bit more outgoing with me. Initially, Clarke all but ruled himself out of the Gleneagles reckoning after his critical comments about the PGA Centenary Course layout. Yet it is understood he was approached by two influential figures on the Tour recently who urged him to make himself available. The former Open champion has played in five Ryder Cups compared to McGinley's three and has also twice been an assistant. Both Clarke and McGinley are part of the committee and when it is time to discuss the captaincy at the next meeting in Abu Dhabi both will leave the room. That will be wise as the bookmakers largely make this a two-horse race, with Clarke a best-priced 4-5 and McGinley at 13-8. McDowell is not among the decision-makers, but believes they have a tough verdict to reach. "If it should boil down to pure playing credentials, of course, Darren would win hands down," said McDowell. However, that opens a can of worms on the Ryder Cup captaincy debate because are we looking for a captain who has the right playing credentials or are we looking at Ryder Cup captains who will be great captains? McDowell added: "You've got to look at what makes a great captain and it's personally being able to relate to 12 very individual players in a team. It's to do also with people skills and being able to possess organisational skills as well as leadership qualities as they all go into making for a great Ryder Cup captain. Someone is going to be disappointed, especially if it's not Paul, as he might not get another shot. I think Darren would make for a great captain in America as they love him over there. His personality suits America and they see him as the cigar-smoking, Guinness-drinking, nice guy that he is. Clarke and McGinley went out in this morning's third round of the BMW Masters in Shanghai among the backmarkers, both on five over. They were 19 shots behind the halfway pacesetter, Peter Hanson. After a 64 the Swede was two shots clear of McIlroy, the defending champion who shot a 65 to move into second. Justin Rose, the Englishman who is attempting to overhaul McIlroy at the top of the European Tour Order of Merit was on eight under, four off McIlroy. Meanwhile, at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, Tiger Woods was on nine under after a 67, five behind his fellow American Robert Garrigus.