Par 5 dominance makes Bradley the man to beat in Sony Open

Taking advantage of the Par 5s is one of the big necessities at Waialae Country Club and this fact alone makes Keegan Bradley the clear pick at 16/1 to win the Sony Open.

Our golf tipping could not have started any better in 2013 when we correctly picked Dustin Johnson at 14/1 to land the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

He is favourite at 10/1 to continue his winning streak in Hawaii and certainly has the game to make it back-to-back victories.

Johnson should have little trouble coping with another bout of gale force winds, while his extreme length of the tee should be an asset on what is quite a short course.

However, his trouble finding the fairway at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions was so apparent that he actually ranked last in the field in this regard.

A failure to rectify his accuracy issues here could be a bigger hindrance and only Rory McIlroy has managed to win successive PGA Tour titles in the last four completed PGA Tour seasons.

These facts make it worth opposing Johnson this time, although he is sure to be there or thereabouts.

Bradley looks the clear danger and in 2012 led the PGA Tour statistics in terms of having the best all-round game.

This makes him a threat on all courses, but it was his losing effort at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions that inspires the most confidence.

With challenging fairways at Waialae, the key to low scoring is taking advantage of the Par 5s and Bradley did this with aplomb last time.

In the 12 Par 5s over the rain-shortened three rounds, Bradley played them at -12, registering a birdie or better on 11 occasions.

This far exceeded anybody else in the field and a repeat should allow him to improve on finishing fourth last time, where he was let down by some disappointing bogeys on some shorter holes.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date