PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Jeannette Oberholser walked with her son, Ian, toward the 18th green and asked him "What do I do with the glass?"

“Wait for Arron to pop the champagne,” he said.

Minutes later, the cork flew, champagne flowed and the celebration of Arron Oberholser’s first PGA TOUR victory officially began.

Oberholser, who finished 17 under at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, won what he’s labeled one of his majors by five strokes. From nearby San Mateo, where his mom and younger brother still live, Arron used to come to watch the tournament. Now, he’ll be looking for a place in his new house to display the trophy.

“I always watched guys growing up win the golf tournament and just the walk up 18 at Pebble Beach is unlike anything else,” Oberholser said. “Even when you’re playing by yourself or with a foursome, it’s still an incredible walk but to walk up knowing you’re the champion is just … I wish everyone could feel that way. It’s incredible.”

It’s a victory that has been years in the making, but one Oberholser saw coming.

“He told me in the middle of last week he planned on being in the last group on Sunday here,” said Dave Woosley, who’s been caddying for Oberholser for three years. “I believed in that feeling.”

More importantly, Oberholser believed it.

It’s never been about the golf with Oberholser. He has the physical tools. It’s been the mental side of the game that has slowed him down until recently. Little by little, Oberholser has improved. At the Sony Open in Hawaii, he was tied for 24th. At the Buick Invitational, he was 15th. He tied for 10th last week at the FBR Open.

“There is nothing wrong with my golf game. I think I can compete with the best players in the world on a week in, week out basis on any golf course,” Oberholser said. “It’s upstairs where I have been lacking. I think that the maturity and sense of peace is starting to come around.”

Even his demeanor was different this week.

“At the FBR, he’d play a shot and just move on,” said his brother Ian, who has caddied for Arron occasionally. “But you would see him celebrating here more, enjoying himself more. He was having fun.”

He was laughing and joking on the driving range before Sunday’s round, just “striping the ball,” he said.

He worked with his coach John Kennaday on focusing on staying in his routine, falling in love with the next shot (meaning no matter what happened on the last one, let it go and focus on the next one) and play the golf course.

It worked. Though Oberholser was up and down on a day that featured faster greens and a little bit of wind, he refused to let a bad shot or bad hole get him down.

“I was determined to stay calm, to stay at peace with myself no matter what happened or where I hit the ball,” he said. “And I was determined to have a good time and smile as much as I can, even though the smile went on the back nine a little bit because I was grinding.”

Back to back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 and a bad tee shot on 15 had Oberholser on the verge of possibly wasting away a four stroke lead. It was a situation that might have tripped him up in the past and one that Kennaday knew could make or break the round.

“I knew we were going to win something,” Kennaday said as he watched Oberholser walk to his drive on 15. “We were either going to win a hell of a big lesson or win a big trophy.”

Oberholser hit a wedge 102 yards to within 8 feet, drained the birdie putt and he could have popped the champagne right then.

“I think most guys will say going for your first win is the toughest because you’ve never done it before,” he said. “Even though I have won on other tours, you don’t know if you can do it on this TOUR. It was difficult all day and I’m pretty wiped out. But the fact it happened and happened this week, at this tournament is extremely special.”

Now, pass the champagne.