New Zealander Daniel Hillier turned professional in 2019 after an impressive amateur career, while arguably the highlight came with qualification for the 2024 men's Olympics golf tournament.
Here, we get to know more about the DP World Tour pro.
1. Daniel Hillier was born in Porirua near Wellington, New Zealand on 26 July 1998.
2. Per Hillier’s official website, when he was a toddler, he used to enjoy playing with a toy club, so his dad bought him a small club that he used for chipping practice when attending his dad’s cricket matches.
3. Hillier was a lover of sports from an early age, but eventually focused more on golf from the age of 13 before joining Judgeford Golf Club.
4. He had a successful amateur career, including wins at the New Zealand Junior U19 Championships in 2015 and 2016 and the Australian Junior Championship a year later.
5. In 2015, he won the Harewood Open on the New Zealand-based Charles Tour as an amateur.
6. Hillier represented his country in the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy, where he finished third in the individual standings.
7. While still an amateur, he made it through final qualifying at Walton Heath to the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach for his Major debut, where he missed the cut.
8. He turned professional later that year and in early 2020 qualified for the PGA Tour of Australasia, but his progress was stifled by the Covid-19 pandemic, so he played most of his golf on the Charles Tour, where he won two tournaments.
9. Hillier’s career really took off in 2021, when he left New Zealand for the Challenge Tour despite having only seven invites and dealing with ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. It paid off with his first Challenge Tour win at the 2021 Challenge Costa Brava. That got him into the season finale and, ultimately, he secured his full card for the 2022 season.
10. That win also gave him Category 18 status to the DP World Tour, where he played four events in 2022, but it was on the Challenge Tour where he made the biggest impact, including another win, this time at the Swiss Challenge. That helped him gain Category 14 DP World Tour status for the 2023 season.
11. In 2023, he claimed his maiden DP World Tour win, coming from three shots back with four to play to win the prestigious Betfred British Masters.
12. He is one of two New Zealanders who qualified for the men’s golf tournament at the Paris Olympics, with Ryan Fox the other player.
13. His best Major performance to date came in the 2024 Open at Royal Troon, where he finished T19.
14. Hillier is in a long-term relationship with girlfriend Siobhan Weaver. She began following him on Instagram, so Hillier sent her a Snapchat message asking her if he knew her, and the rest is history.
15. Siobhan has caddied for Daniel in the past, including at DP World Tour events and his victory at the 2021 Challenge Costa Brava on the Challenge Tour.
