Daniel Hillier’s remarkable 2026 season has delivered another memorable moment, with the New Zealander winning a luxury BMW after making a hole-in-one during the opening round of the Open de España in Madrid.
Hillier aced the 187-yard par-three 17th at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with an eight-iron, earning himself an all-electric BMW iX5 valued at about NZ$280,000.
The remarkable part? He didn’t even like the strike.
“It was pretty crazy,” Hillier said. “To be honest, I toed it quite a bit. Wasn’t too happy with the strike.”
His ball landed pin-high, took one hop to the left and disappeared into the cup.
Hillier could not initially see the bottom of the hole from the tee and only realised he had made the ace when spectators behind the green erupted.
“A little bit of disbelief for a while, but it’s nice to see it go in,” he said.
The ace helped Hillier card a four-under 67, leaving him one shot behind the leaders after the opening round.
Grant Forrest, Connor Syme and Eugenio Chacarra shared the top of the leaderboard at five-under following rounds of 66, with Sergio Garcia among those alongside Hillier at four-under.
The BMW was reserved for the first professional to make a hole-in-one at the 17th during the tournament, meaning Hillier wasted little time claiming the prize.
“I didn’t realise a car was on offer,” he said.
“I’ve locked it up pretty early, but absolutely stoked and very grateful. It’s going to be a long drive though [to New Zealand], I know that much.”
Hillier believes it was the fifth hole-in-one of his career, but his first on the DP World Tour.
It continues an outstanding year for the 28-year-old, who married long-time partner Siobhan before winning the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort just days later.
He arrived in Madrid sitting 13th in the Race to Dubai and firmly in contention to earn dual PGA Tour membership for 2027.
“[The year] just keeps getting better,” Hillier said. “Hopefully I can continue that for another couple of months.”
