Column: Golf delivers plenty of tales from the tour in 2017

Brooks Koepka is tweaking his schedule next year to play Pebble Beach, which only makes sense.

The U.S. Open champion has become an expert on beaches.

That conversation he shared with caddie Ricky Elliott on the 15th fairway of the final round at Erin Hills had nothing to do with club selection to a back pin. They take a fall vacation to the beaches of Asia and were discussing where to go.

"We had talked about Vietnam," Koepka said. "Then he handed me the club and we hit it, and he says, 'Good shot,' and then we continued the conversation," he said.

They ended going to Vietnam and Thailand's Phi Phi Island, adding to a long list of beaches where he has run his toes through the sand, from Bali to Phuket, from Bermuda to the Bahamas.