McDowell wants McGinley to help smooth Clarke path to captaincy

Graeme McDowell hopes that Paul McGinley could help smooth the way for Darren Clarke to secure the 2016 European Ryder Cup captaincy.

McGinley's friendship with Clarke cooled after the 2011 Open champion appeared to back Colin Montgomerie to lead Europe at Gleneagles.

However, McDowell says that Clarke, 46, should now meet with victorious captain McGinley.

"Darren and Paul should put their differences aside," said McDowell.

"Darren needs to spend some time talking to Paul about the way he [McGinley] has conducted himself this week.

"Paul commanded a huge amount of respect in the team room and was the best captain I have ever played under by far and that's no disrespect to any of the other captains."

Speaking after Europe's 16½-11½ victory over the United States at Gleneagles, both McDowell and Rory McIlroy reiterated that they believe Clarke should captain Europe in two years time at Hazeltine.

Under a new selection process, McGinley and the two previous captains - Jose Maria Olazabal and Montgomerie - will have a say in deciding the captain for the 2016 match at the Minnesota venue.

When asked after his team's triumph on Sunday about Clarke's chances of winning that race, McGinley was non-committal.

"We'll see. I'm part of the decision-making process. That's something we will discuss over the next few months," said the Dubliner.

Clarke was initially mentioned as a potential candidate for the 2014 captaincy but, after opting out of the race, then appeared to give his backing to 2010 skipper Montgomerie before McGinley landed the role.