Ross Randall figured it was only a matter of time before Matt Gogel claimed his first PGA Tour victory.

Gogel’s time came Sunday, when the former Kansas University golfer won the Pebble Beach national Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Matt Gogel celebrates his birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It was the first PGA Tour victory for Gogel, who played at Kansas University in 1991-94.

“We met in December, and he said he felt he was close,” said Randall, who coached Gogel at KU in 1991-94. “He had some chances to win before, and he really felt he could win out there. I’m delighted he won at Pebble Beach. It’s a great place, and a place he loves.”

Gogel, a Denver native who grew up in Tulsa, Okla., and now lives in Mission Hills, pocketed $720,000 for his victory Sunday and hiked his career earnings over the $2 million mark.

He is the first KU grad to win a PGA Tour event. The previous best by a former Jayhawk was a third-place finish by Rod Horn in the 1968 Buick Open.

In the same event two years ago, Gogel was poised to break into the PGA win column when Tiger Woods caught fire, coming from seven strokes back with seven to play to beat Gogel by two strokes.

“(Sunday), he looked like he hit every shot where he wanted to be,” said Randall, who played on the Tour in 1969-76. “That’s good, to hold up when the heat’s on. Having been there a couple of years before, and leading last year at one point, things get in your mind. You start thinking. But he really didn’t look to me like he did anything wrong. He three-putted the next-to-last hole, but that was a case of misjudging.”

A case of misjudging by Pat Perez helped Gogel on Sunday. Perez took a triple bogey on No. 18 just after Gogel drained a 25-foot birdie putt there and finished three back.

“We knew he was in trouble,” Gogel said on a Kansas City sports radio talk show Monday of Perez’ tee shot on No. 17 that was ruled out of bounds by a few feet. “But you never know how those things will play out. We didn’t know if he’d be able to take a one-stroke penalty and still make a par or birdie.

“I said to my caddie, I’ve made this putt before, and he said, ‘Make it again.’ I was just hoping it had enough speed, because it was on line. That was the most unbelievable charge, the most unbelievable adrenaline flow to have all those people cheering. It’s such an unbelievable memory. I saw (Perez) walking down the fairway and he was OB (out of bounds) and I thought, ‘This is mine finally.'”

Can the next one be far away? Randall says no.

“It’s like breaking the 4-minute mile,” Randall said. “History has shown that it helps to get that first win. There’s a lot of things that have to go on for you to win. You have to be lucky and get a good bounce. It’s not just great play on your part. But you have that feeling after you’ve won once, somehow you’re able to get in that frame of mind more often. You start thinking, ‘I’ve done it before, I can do it now.’

“And a lot of people don’t understand about the Tour. There are three categories of people you play with, and he moved up to the top category. And the good players carry the others around with them.”

Gogel, who will turn 31 on Saturday, won the Kansas Open in 1995 and played his way onto the PGA Tour in 2000.

Gogel played in 26 events last year and earned $729,783 and full exempt status on the strength of four top-10 and seven top-25 finishes. His best finish of the year came at the John Deere Classic, where he tied for fifth.

“Last spring, I had him come over and talk to our team about what he’d learned, and I was impressed by how much he had matured,” Randall said. “It’s a process. You have to learn and continue to learn. You can’t do things too quickly. I could tell he was really growing up, understanding it’s a lot more about the mental part of the game.”

If there’s one negative to Gogel’s Sunday, it’s that he returned to Mission Hills to see electricity hadn’t been restored to his home. Power was knocked out by last week’s ice storm.

“They have a baby, so they’re staying in a hotel,” Randall said. “I’ve been playing phone tag with him, but he did leave a message to say it’s amazing how many people he’s heard from.”