After turning a potential missed cut into a superb runner-up finish in India, Daniel Hillier speaks exclusively to NZ Golf Magazine about finding freedom, the realities of life overseas and a PGA Tour dream edging closer.
Four over par through 14 holes, Daniel Hillier was wondering whether his week in India might soon be over.
By Sunday afternoon, he was making Eugenio Chacarra work for the trophy.
An opening 74 followed by successive rounds of 64 and a closing 67 carried the New Zealander to outright second at the DP World India Championship. His 19-under-par total left him just two shots behind Chacarra, an extraordinary recovery from a start that had threatened to take him out of contention altogether.
For Hillier, the turnaround began with a change in approach. With his tournament already in trouble, he found the freedom that had been missing early on.
“Mostly I think the poor start kind of freed me up a bit in a way for the rest of the week,” he tells NZ Golf Magazine.
“Delhi Golf Club is a great test and isn’t a place where you want to be second-guessing yourself.”
It is a course that rewards commitment and punishes uncertainty, as Hillier discovered.
“You have plenty of chances if you play well, but if you don’t, you can rack up some serious numbers. My game was in a good spot coming into the week, but I think I may have been a little defensive early on, and did myself more harm than good.”
The storms that interrupted Thursday’s play offered an unexpected opportunity to reset. Unable to finish his opening round that day, Hillier had time to put some distance between himself and those early mistakes.
“Being able to sleep off that poor start and come out with a bit more freedom the next day might have been the biggest blessing in the end.”
What followed was remarkable scoring. His back-to-back 64s transformed the week, and a final-round charge brought him close enough to keep the outcome in doubt. Chacarra’s advantage, at one stage six shots, was reduced to two before the Spaniard secured the title.
Hillier, though, says victory only began to feel possible at the very end of his own round.
“The only time I really thought I had a sniff was when I birdied the last on Sunday to get within two, because from there it would only have taken one or two bad shots from Eugenio to make things interesting.”
There was hope, tempered by respect for the man still ahead of him.
“He’s a class player though, so I still wasn’t expecting him to give it up so easily.”
Chacarra held firm. Hillier left with a result whose value was sharpened by the memory of where he had started.
“In the end, coming solo second felt like a win, considering I was four over through 14 holes and was thinking it could have been a short week for me.”
A childhood dream within reach
India also gave Hillier’s pursuit of a PGA Tour card a significant boost. He followed it with a shared 11th at the Genesis Championship in South Korea, and heads to the DP World Tour Play-Offs fourth on the PGA Tour eligibility rankings. The leading ten players not otherwise exempt at season’s end earn cards for the following season.
For a player who grew up imagining himself on that stage, the prospect carries enormous personal weight.
“It would mean the world,” he says.
“Playing on the PGA Tour is something I dreamt about as a kid, and now that it’s getting close to being a reality, it certainly takes up its fair share of space in my head.”
Managing those thoughts is part of the challenge. Every good result brings the goal closer, but there are still shots to hit and tournaments to play.
“I think I’m learning how to deal with all of that external stuff a lot better now, and when I’m out there playing my main goal is to just do my job the best I can.
“I know that if I do that then the results tend to take care of themselves.”
That approach served him well in Delhi. A difficult opening stretch could have become the story of his tournament. Instead, he gave himself room to recover.
The distance behind the results
Hillier is candid about what it takes to keep pursuing that dream so far from home.
He feels fortunate to play golf for a living. It is what he has wanted since childhood. But that gratitude exists alongside the strain of spending long periods away from the people closest to him.
“The time away from family, friends, and home is probably the hardest thing for me,” he says.
“And when you’re over the other side of the world by yourself, and things aren’t going well, it can become pretty exhausting, and definitely tests your desire to keep pushing forward.”
His honesty goes beyond the familiar acknowledgement that touring life can be lonely.
“There have been times where I haven’t enjoyed the lifestyle as much as I thought I might. I’ve definitely played tug of war with my own thoughts in the past, and have even questioned if this is really what I want to be doing for the rest of my life.”
It is a revealing admission from someone moving closer to one of his biggest ambitions. The opportunity is real, but so are the sacrifices it demands.
“Playing for your livelihood is another one of those external things that you have to contend with on a daily basis,” he says.
“It makes the tough weeks tougher, but it also makes the great weeks feel that much more rewarding, and I think that’s why you see so much emotion from everyone out there because we are all playing for something more than what’s seen on the leaderboards.”
The support that keeps him going
For Hillier, the connection to home helps make those demands manageable.
Visits from his wife ease the time away, while messages from family arrive after every round, regardless of the score.
“Having all the support from my loved ones and all the Kiwis back home is one of the biggest things that keeps me going,” he says.
“Thankfully, my wife is able to come out every now and then, which makes the time away from home a lot easier, and my family are always messaging me after every round, good or bad, with encouraging words.”
That support provides something he values beyond encouragement. It helps him keep his results in perspective, even as he plays for his livelihood and chases a childhood dream.
“It’s the stuff like that which helps me realise that my worth isn’t tied to how I perform on the course and it helps me accept everything that this game can throw at us with a bit more ease.”
India offered plenty for Hillier to absorb: a poor start, an enforced pause, a spectacular recovery and, finally, the satisfaction of second place.
Now, with the PGA Tour drawing closer, he carries forward both the confidence earned in Delhi and the reassurance arriving from home – after the 74s as well as the 64s.
