NEW ZEALAND’S Daniel Hillier was playing a friendly nine-hole match with countryman Ryan Fox early in January, striking his irons with precision and his putts with laser-like accuracy, when Fox looked at him and said: “Why can’t you play like this when you’re in a tournament?”
Hillier, ranked second only to Fox among the current crop of Kiwi professionals, is hardly an anxious golfer, generally taking everything in his stride and seemingly going about his work in a relaxed, almost carefree, manner.
But something in Fox’s words struck a chord with the young man, who at the time was preparing to contest the Dubai International, the DP World Tour’s first event for 2026, at the Dubai Creek Resort course.
“So I just pretended I was playing a little nine-hole match against the golf course, and basically taking it one shot at a time,” he said. “For the most part, happy days.”
Happy days, indeed. Hillier went on to shoot rounds of 69, 72 and 69, followed by a spectacular final round of six-under-par 65, featuring an eagle and four birdies, to rocket up the leaderboard and finish second to Spain’s Nacho Elvira.
It continued a remarkable run of form that took the Wellington-born Hillier, 27, into fifth place on Race to Dubai standings, and marked him as one of the world’s most promising young golfers.
In the space of just a few weeks late last year, Hillier was runner-up in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, tied fifth in the Abu Dhabi Championship, tied fifth in the Australian PGA Championship and tied sixth in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, his performances notable for steady ball-striking and clutch putting.
Daniel Hillier has developed into a world class performer who has ambition to win his way onto the PGA Tour – Pic courtesy of Photosports.NZ
Now in his fourth season on the DP World Tour, he finds himself comfortable competing against the world’s best players, and increasingly familiar with the courses the tour visits around the globe.
Hillier’s international success comes as no surprise to those who have followed his career since he decided at the age of 13 to concentrate on golf.
He was the New Zealand junior champion in 2015 and 2016, represented his country in the 2016 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in South Korea, and crossed the ditch that same year to take the Australian Junior Championship.
Hiller was New Zealand amateur champion in 2015 and 2017 and in 2018 was co-medalist at the US Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach, eventually going down to current US PGA Tour member Davis Riley in the round of 32. Victor Hovland won that event.
That same year he was part of New Zealand’s three-man Eisenhower Cup team in Dublin, the Kiwis finishing in fourth place in the teams’ event, and Hillier third in the individual standings. While still an amateur, he qualified for the 2019 US Open, shooting rounds of 70 and 66 in a qualifier at London’s Walton Health Golf Club.
Hillier was 13th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before he turned professional in September 2019. He played on New Zealand’s Charles Tour in 2020, winning that year’s Order of Merit.
Hillier moved to Europe in 2021 to compete on the secondary Challenger Tour, where he had been promised a handful of starts. He made the most of his opportunities, winning the Challenge Costa Brava and ending the season in 23rd place, ensuring his full card for the 2022 season.
Knowing he needed to finish in the top 20 to secure full playing rights on the 2023 DP World Tour, Hillier won the Swiss Challenge event and notched five other Top 10 finishes throughout the year, ending the season in seventh place on the Order of Merit.
He broke through for his first – and, so far, only – win on the DP World Tour when he finished eagle, birdie, eagle, par to win the 2023 British Masters. The following year he notched his best result in a major – a tie for 19th at the Open at Royal Troon.
Hillier’s world ranking is now 110 and last year, like his good mate Elvis Smylie, he came within a few strokes of winning status on the US PGA Tour, a reward offered to those who finish in the top 10 of the DP World Tour at season’s end.
“I gave it a good run at the back end of the year,” he said. “The last few months have been really good. I’m pretty proud that I gave myself a chance at the end.”
Though it’s far from one of the world’s premier tournaments, Hillier was looking forward to competing in this year’s New Zealand Open at Millbrook, where he hoped to become only the second Kiwi to win their national open in the past 20 years.
He has spoken about what the event means to him, saying how special it was to compete
at home in front of supporters, family and friends.
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