Dean Wilson’s golf survival skills have been tested all over the world. The Castle High graduate is still standing, taller than ever as he prepares to tee off in the Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii State Open tomorrow.

Wilson is home. His heart, family and friends are in Hawaii. But his passion for golf and childhood dream of winning on the PGA Tour have taken him to Provo, Utah, and all over Asia and the mainland.

In the past eight years, Wilson has won $8.5 million on the world’s greatest golf stage, but this year he played the PGA Tour without a net. He came to last year’s state open after losing his tour card, finished second to Jesse Mueller, then went back on the road to get his playing privileges back.

He qualified for a few events and received sponsor invitations for a few more. The guy who played 30-plus events every year made nine cuts in 18 starts and won more than $800,000 to get his card back.

A runner-up finish at the RBC Canadian Open was crucial.

"It’s hard to compete on the PGA Tour when you’re not playing and getting in a routine," said Wilson, whose stroke average of 69.69 this year was a full shot better than in any previous year. "Early in the year, I’d get in a tournament and not play another for four weeks. It was really tough. I was lucky I got in the Canadian and played really well. From there I was able to play seven of the last 10 weeks."

Wilson turns 41 tomorrow. For all those years he has made his own luck. When Brigham Young-Hawaii dropped its golf program, he transferred to BYU-Provo, though the Cougars did not encourage him. He won the 1991 Western Athletic Conference championship.

He turned pro a year later after getting his degree and played all over the world until finding a niche on the Japan Golf Tour, where he won six times and was among the top 70 in the world ranking.

He rode that success to the PGA Tour and, at the 2006 International, became the first Hawaii-born winner since David Ishii at the 1990 Hawaiian Open.

Wilson’s goal now is to win again. He has always seen every week as an opportunity to win, which only made this year more frustrating. It altered his perspective in a few ways.

He now realizes how nice it is not to travel nonstop. Wilson is looking forward to a successful decade on tour that will allow him to come home at 50 and enjoy family and friends, rather than renew the chase on the Champions Tour.

He has also made a commitment to "smelling the roses a little bit."

"I’ve always put golf first and foremost; it was all about performing," he said. "Sometimes along the way you forget to enjoy it. You work hard, go home, get some rest and go out again early in the morning. This year I’m going to go out and enjoy it a little more. It’s a little easier at my age versus when I first started playing. I’m finding out relaxing and enjoying it along the way helps me."

This week at Turtle Bay is all about enjoying friends, though Wilson — the 2007 state open champ — does have a very specific, well-researched goal.

"The reason I’m coming over is to win it," he said. "Putting my name on the trophy is what I really want. My personal goal is to win the state open five times. David (Ishii) and Scott (Simpson) have four, so I want to win it five times. So far I’ve only won it one time, so I’ve got to play a little better."

The pro-am is today and the first round tomorrow, with the open flight on the Palmer Course the first two days and Fazio Course for Sunday’s final round. The women, seniors and A flights are at Fazio the first two days and Palmer on Sunday.

There is a cut after 36 holes and leaders are expected to finish around 1 p.m. Sunday.