The duo will play the first two rounds together in Doha, along with South Africa’s Branden Grace, reviving memories of their thrilling match at Celtic Manor.

Mahan eventually succumbed to a 3 and 1 defeat following a duffed chip at the 17th hole to ensure Europe regained the trophy by the narrowest of margins.

However, the American – currently at 19 in the world rankings – insists those events are now very much in the past and is looking forward to partnering McDowell in the Middle East.

Good relationship

“Graeme and I get on very well so I’m sure we’ll have a good couple of days,” Mahan stated.

“The Ryder Cup was a good time ago and I am now focused more on making this year’s team.

“It was disappointing to be on that losing side so I really want to get myself on Davis Love’s team to be on a winning team.”

Mahan arrives in Doha on the back of a very encouraging start to his season having finished joint sixth at the Farmers Insurance Open in California last weekend.

The 29-year-old had to fly for the best part of a day to participate in the event, but is hopeful he will not be suffering from any ill-effects when the tournament gets underway on Thursday.

“I’m coming off a good result last week. That was my first tournament for six or seven weeks,” he added.

“It was good to get back out there and see where my game was at because you’re never too sure how you are going to perform having had so many weeks off.”

The American is playing the West Coast swing but will take in a trip to Qatar instead of playing the Phoenix Open, where he is a former winner.

And while the Ryder Cup star admits that was a tough decision to make, he knows the sport is now on the global stage.

“It was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up,” Mahan said. “I wanted to see if I even liked it over there, if I wanted to do it again, maybe an Abu Dhabi-Qatar swing.

“There’s a lot of world ranking points right now. They kind of own all the big tournaments, other than the World Golf Championships and the majors.

“It’s a big trip, but nowadays that’s what you have to do. Golf is worldwide. If you want to play against the best players…if I go over and play well, it’s going to mean a lot more to me than playing well here. It’s just a fact.”

He said that how he performs over the next five weeks will be more about his golf than his travel. After Qatar, he has Pebble Beach, Riviera and the Match Play.

“This is part of the game. This is the lifestyle. You’ve got to travel,” Mahan added. “When you fly over there, it’s not an excuse. When you fly back, it’s not an excuse. It’s about playing well.”

The American, 29, was troubled by soreness behind his shoulder and opted to pull out of the event in Sydney in order to avoid risking further injury.

Mahan – who shot an opening round of 73 on Thursday – said he fully expects to play in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, and believes he will be ready to compete again after a few days of rest.

“It wasn’t great for nine holes (on Thursday), then they came out and popped my back and it was a little better,” he explained.

“It’s just the rotation. It’s fired up to the point that I can’t get through the ball.”

Mahan revealed that he had kept US Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples informed of his injury – Couples is also playing at the tournament in Sydney this week.

However, his problems mean that Couples is now sweating on the fitness of two of his players ahead of the match against Greg Norman’s International team, with Steve Stricker also struggling.

Stricker has not played since September 25 at the Tour Championship because of a neck injury that has weakened his left arm.

Couples has already revealed that he will call up USPGA champion Keegan Bradley should any member of his team be unable to compete.

Mahan missed out on an $11.5million payday when he was beaten by Bill Haas on the third playoff hole at East Lake in Atlanta on Sunday.

But the American golfer knows that it was not his play from tee to green that cost him victory and the huge prize on offer.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the way I played,” Mahan stated. “I just can’t make a putt.

“I didn’t have my first birdie until 15 and I had a ton of looks. They were close, too. Just didn’t make a putt.”

Mahan, who shared the lead overnight, hit 10 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens during regulation play as he closed with a one-over 71 on Sunday.

Determined

But his putting stats left him 27th in the 30-man field after he needed 33 putts over the 18 holes and missed four putts inside 10 feet.

Mahan would have clinched the title without the need for a play-off if he had made just one of those but is determined to remain positive about the experience.

“I feel like I hit good putts,” he added. “I didn’t feel like they were bad strokes. They were just kind of misreads.

“Some were too high, some were too low and I could never get any kind of momentum going the right way.

“If I’ve learned anything, I can’t be really disappointed. I can’t be mad or disappointed or angry about the day. That’s not what it’s about.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be in that position again, but it was fun.”