Daniel Hillier Player Profile, Stats, Latest Results

DANIEL HILLIER produced a finish for the ages to win the British Masters at The Belfry - his maiden victory on the DP World Tour.

He burst from the pack after an eagle at the 15th, birdie at the 16th and another eagle at the 17th and then safely negotiated the treacherous par-four 18th for a final round of 66 and a total of 278, a shot better than American Gunner Wiebe, who also ended the week with a 66.

It is New Zealander Hillier’s first full season on the DP World Tour but this victory should not come as a surprise as he has shown plenty of good recent form. One of the bonuses that comes with this victory is a place in the field for The Open at Hoylake later this month.

Hillier holed from 40 feet for eagle on the 15th, made birdie from a fairway bunker on the next and then holed from six feet for another eagle on the 17th in a brilliant final round of 66 at The Belfry.

That gave the 24-year-old a winning total of 10 under par, securing the first prize of £468,000 and also a place in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Hillier, who began the day three shots off a six-way tie for the lead, said: “I’m gobsmacked. I think it’s going to take me a while to process to be honest.

“Early on in the day I was not feeling it at all. I was a little bit uncomfortable with the driver, didn’t have many chances but obviously knew there were some chances coming in.

“I didn’t think I would take them that well, but obviously pretty ecstatic. I’m not going to lie, I was definitely looking at the leaderboard and seeing my name up there and thinking about what it would be like to finish it off but it’s all a bit of a blur really.”

• Player Profile
• Last 10 Events
• Key Stats
• World Ranking

Hillier finished two shots ahead of England’s Oliver Wilson and American Gunner Wiebe, who secured the other two spots up for grabs at Hoylake.

Wilson birdied the 18th to snatch the final Open spot from Scotland’s Calum Hill, who had to settle for a share of fourth place with compatriot Ewen Ferguson and pre-tournament favourite Justin Rose.

Player Profile

Hillier was born on July 26, 1998, in New Zealand.

He won the New Zealand Amateur in 2015 and 2017 and the Australian Boys’ Amateur in 2016. He also won the Bedisloe Cup twice, in 2016 and 2018, and was a co-medalist with Cole Hammer at the 2018 US Amateur.

As a 17-year-old he won the Harewood Open on the Charles Tour. He qualified for the 2019 US Open through final qualifying at Walton Heath, but missed the cut.

He turned professional in September 2019 and in January 2020 qualified for the PGA Tour of Australasia. In 2021 he qualified for The Open but missed the cut.

In 2021 he won the Challenge Costa Brava on the Challenge Tour and in September 2022 he won the Swiss Challenge on the Challenge Tour and gained full playing rights for the DP World Tour.

He has enjoyed a couple of excellent finishes in 2023, sharing a tie for fifth at the KLM Open and tied third at the BMW International Open.

He began the British Masters in 77th place in the Race to Dubai and 265th in the world rankings. He is now 136th in the world and 14th in the Race to Dubai.

Last 10 Events

Betfred British Masters Hosted by Sir Nick Faldo - 1st

BMW International Open - T-3rd

Porsche European Open - CUT

KLM Open - T5th

Soudal Open - CUT

Italian Open - CUT

Korea Championship - CUT

ISPS Handa Championship - T23rd

102nd NZ Open - T12th

Hero Indian Open - CUT

Key Stats (DP World Tour: 2022/23)

Driving Distance - 306.77 Yards

Driving Accuracy - 59.68%

Greens in Regulation - 68.27%

Sand Saves - 40.26%

Putts Per Round - 29.82

Scoring Average - 71.70

End of Year World Ranking Position

2020: 950

2021: 258

2022: 273