Daniel Hillier

EVENT: Men's Golf

Daniel Hillier was born in Porirua, and as a youngster always had a golf club in his hand.

As an Amateur golfer, Hillier amassed a number of key titles including two New Zealand Junior U19 Championships in 2015 and 2016, the 2017 Australian Junior Championship, a Charles Tour professional event in the 2015 Harewood Open, as well as two New Zealand Amateur Championships in 2015 and 2017.

Hillier reached 13th in the official World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) before turning professional on 10th September 2019.

Hillier had a remarkable season on the 2021 Challenge Tour. He began the year with only seven invitations, coupled with the additional difficulty of not being able to return home due to Covid-19 restrictions. Despite these difficulties, he secured his maiden Challenge Tour win at the penultimate event of the season, the Challenge Costa Brava, to play his way into the 2021 season finalé ‘Challenge Tour Grand Final’ in Mallorca.

He ended the season 23rd on the rankings to comfortably secure his full Challenge Tour card for the 2022 season, and have Category 18 status on the 2022 DP World Tour.

Hillier won his second Challenge Tour tournament at the Swiss Challenge event in September 2022, to go alongside five other Top 10 finishes during the year.He ended the 2022 season in 7th place on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, which secured him Category 14 status on the 2023 DP World Tour.