Aaron Baddeley's second placing at the Sony Open in Hawaii gives him a huge boost in his quest to qualify for the Masters.

To earn a ticket to Augusta, he must be ranked either in the top 10 on the US Tour money list, or the top 50 in the world, at the end of March.

And while the $US486,000 ($A823,000) that Baddeley collected here on Monday doesn't guarantee him a spot in the top 10 on the money list, it certainly sets him on the right track.

He is second behind South African Ernie Els after the season's first two events, but probably will need to at least double his earnings in the next 10 weeks to stay in the top 10.

Even though Baddeley lost a play-off to Els yesterday, any questions about whether he is the real deal have been laid to rest.

Despite his three Australian tournament victories, some questioned whether he would ever be anything other than a big fish in a small pond, especially when he changed coaches 18 months ago while mired in a slump.

But the way Baddeley, despite struggling with his swing in his first event as a member of the US Tour, took it to Els in the final round at Waialae Country Club demonstrated that the 21-year-old Victorian has arrived with a bang on the international stage.

"At the moment I'm disappointed, because I had a chance to win, but I'm happy because I made Ernie work for it (even though) I didn't have my `A' game today," Baddeley said.

"To take on Ernie, the second best player in the world, and take him to a play-off and nearly beat him gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year."

Baddeley, who started the final round two strokes ahead of Els, shot 69 to tie Els (67) at 16-under-par 264, two strokes ahead of American Chris DiMarco (66).

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