'AIEA — What a way to go. Chan Kim's farewell tour consisted of running away with the Hawai'i State Amateur Stroke Play Championship yesterday.

The Kaimuki junior, who will move to Arizona in less than a month, beat defending champion Toru Nakajima by three at Pearl Country Club. Kim is the first high school player to win the title since Chase Chulakote in 2003.

His four-day score of 9-under-par 279 is second only to Chris Santangelo's winning score of 13-under, shot at Waialae Country Club 24 years ago. Kim and Nakajima closed with 70s, as did Kaua'i's Casey Watabu, who took third at 286. They were the only three to finish under par for 72 holes.

The next competitive tee time for Watabu will be at Augusta. The 2006 U.S. Public Links champion leaves today for Georgia to prepare for next month's Masters.

Sacred Hearts junior Ayaka Kaneko, the only female in the 86-player field, will play in two Japan LPGA events next month. Kaneko, who was in the top five the first three days at Pearl, dropped to 11th at 299 with a final-round 77.

Kaneko and Kim both work with Hawai'i Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii, Pearl's director of golf. Kim said Ishii's gift of a book on the mental side of golf was a huge part of his lopsided win.

"It helped a lot," Kim said. "Pearl Open time (last month), the whole time I was focusing way too much on my swing. It didn't allow me to hit my shots.

"This week I was just focusing on my target, not holding back. There's a difference between playing conservative and playing like you're scared. When you're scared you tend to hold back. You've got to let it go and just hit your shots."

Kim was up by eight after 11 holes yesterday, with four straight birdies coming from a chip-in and three putts inside 5 feet. "That," he grinned, "was awesome."

Kim three-putted two of his final five holes while Nakajima birdied both.

The four-shot swing made this one look closer than it was. In reality, Kim's birdie binge clinched it. The two putting glitches were all that frustrated him.

"He's not only long but he's accurate," said Nakajima, a Waseda (Japan) University senior whose worst finish in three years at this tournament is second. "Chan had a good rhythm from the beginning to the end."

Kim will be taking his wondrous tempo to the Mainland, leaving this year's state high school championship without a defending champion. He beat Honoka'a's Sean Maekawa and Moanalua's Tadd Fujikawa for the state title last year.

But the opportunity to attend Hamilton High School, in Chandler, Ariz., for an entire quarter — before concentrating on golf this summer and beginning his Mainland high school golf career in September — was too good to pass up.

"The tournaments are all so much closer over there," Kim said. "I figured you can just drive over to California and Nevada. You don't need to fly off. I think that is a huge advantage." The Hamilton Huskies have won the past two Arizona state titles, shooting the lowest score in history this school year. Sophomore Richard Lee is Arizona's state champion and sophomore teammate Andrew Yun took third. Yun, who transferred to Chandler from Tacoma, Wash., a year ago, helped convince Kim to make the massive move. Lee and Yun are fifth and sixth in Golfweek's national junior rankings.

Along with the high school title, Kim won the Four-Ball Championship (with Fujikawa) and Army Invitational last year. And, while those felt awfully good — especially states — this win might be his most memorable.

"Playing against the best amateurs, like Casey Watabu," said Kim. "And, it feels good to win the last one."

Not that he won't be back. Kim promised to return for the Governor's Cup, after clinching a place on the amateur team with yesterday's win, and the Hawai'i Pearl Open — at the very least.

He is also hanging on to this "Hawai'i" golf bag — "of course" — and hoping to catch up with Fujikawa and Maekawa in college. Oregon, where Maekawa has already committed, is at the top of Kim's list at this point.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.