Despite career year in 2016, Dustin Johnson not thinking much about past success

Dustin Johnson had his best year in 2016. (Getty Images)

Dustin Johnson had a career year in 2016, winning his first major at the U.S. Open and adding a pair of other PGA Tour titles en route to securing the peer-voted PGA Tour Player of the Year award.

At a TaylorMade Golf launch event in December, however, Johnson said he doesn’t believe he’s yet played his best golf. It makes sense, then, that the long-hitting 32-year-old ironically has a short memory.

“I’m pretty good at not really thinking about what I did in the past, because it doesn’t really matter,” said Johnson ahead of this week’s event at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Hawaii. “It’s all about what I’m doing right now and what’s coming up, because it doesn’t matter how good a year I had last year. That doesn’t matter anymore; it’s this year. We’ve got all new goals and new things that I want to do.”

Naturally, Johnson, who found a reliable cut off the tee and confidence with his wedges last year, hopes to carry those facets of his game and the accompanying confidence into the New Year. Ultimately, though, Johnson knows his 2017 won’t be judged at all by what he did last year.

“Who gives a [expletive] what I did last year? I need to go out and win this golf tournament,” he said. “I know what recipe works to have success. Just continue doing that.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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