Alex Ching had trouble finding the fairway on the back nine, but the rest of his game was just fine Sunday as he put the finishing touches on an 8-stroke victory at the Mid-Pacific Open.

The 2008 Hawaii high school state champion shot a final-round 75 to win one of local golf’s most prestigious events at 5 under par for the 72-hole tournament. Retired PGA Tour regular Dean Wilson (77 on Sunday) and former University of Hawaii player Jared Sawada (74) tied for second.

Ching — who answered “yes, and no,” when asked if this might get him thinking about trying for the tour again — received a $10,000 prize for his first win as a pro golfer.

“It does give me a lot of confidence going into next week’s U.S. Open qualifier at Hoakalei (Country Club),” he said.

His final round wasn’t as snazzy as the 67 and 68 he posted in the middle rounds to take control, but it was more than enough to close the deal on a day when steady wind and some devilish pin placements kept scores from going low.

Ching got enough pars — plus an eagle early in the round — to win comfortably, at least on paper.

“Today was really tough, a grind out there,” he said.

Most of his tee shots on the back nine ended up in the rough, but Ching still managed to smile as he surveyed the damage. That was because of his caddie.

“One hundred percent, the caddie,” Robby Toma said, with a laugh, when asked how much credit he deserved for his friend’s victory. “Nah, nah, it’s all Alex. We just had fun out there.”

A decade ago Toma was known for being wing man to another fellow Punahou athlete: Manti Te’o, his Buffanblu and Notre Dame football teammate. The gregarious Toma seems to have a talent for keeping friends cool under pressure.

“I couldn’t have done it without him,” Ching said.

Ching and Toma golf together regularly, so in some ways it was like just another fun day on the course with pals. Ching and Wilson said they are friends, too; they spent a lot of time golfing together when Ching was at the University of San Diego and Wilson lived in what some residents call “America’s Finest City.”

“Dean has such an incredible resume,” Ching said. ”He’s won at the highest level and all over the world. I’m fortunate to have him as a friend and mentor.”

On this day they were also competitors.

For the second day in a row, Wilson started the round strong and cut into Ching’s lead early. Wilson birdied two of the first three holes, and Ching played the first four at 3 over, allowing Wilson to close the gap to two strokes.

But Ching then made a 20-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 No. 5.

“The eagle was huge, especially since I got off to a slow start,” Ching said. “That was the turning point, we’re back in it, we’re OK.”

Wilson stayed within striking distance until a triple-bogey 7 on No. 15, when he followed an out-of-bounds tee sh0t with an errant recovery attempt.

“At that point you have to take some chances,” Wilson said. “Great round by Alex — he did what he needed to do to win on a day like today when getting up-and-down can make the difference.”

That’s what Ching did on 15, with a nice chip setting up with a 5-footer for par.

“I would love to see the fairway,” he had said while walking to his ball in the rough. “Can’t find it.”

But he still found ways to par everything on the back nine, and that was good enough on this breezy day in Lanikai.

Matthew Ma was 5 over Sunday and 7 over for the tournament to win the championship flight.