Daniel Hillier is feeling fresh and hoping to shake off the rust as he returns to competitive action at this week's Volvo China Open for the first time since winning his national open nearly eight weeks ago.
It has been quite the 2026 so far for the New Zealander. Just days after getting married to partner Siobhan in February, Hillier teed it up at his home open and walked away with the title and a place at The Open Championship.
His two‑shot victory marked his first professional win in nearly three years and fulfilled a childhood ambition, lifting him to a career‑high of 83rd in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“It was incredible,” he said of his eighth professional win.
“It’s something I have dreamt of since I started playing competitive golf. It definitely wasn’t easy, there were a lot of nerves coming down the stretch, but to be able to pull it off in front of all my friends and family and my wife was pretty sweet. It was a dream come true.”
The win, his first since his sole DP World Tour win at the 2023 Betfred British Masters, arrived after a series of close calls in recent months and continued the upward trajectory he built at the end of last season.
A late surge through the Back 9 and DP World Tour Play‑Offs saw him finish just one place outside the automatic qualifying spots for Dual Membership on the PGA TOUR. Awarded to the top ten players otherwise not exempt on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, Hillier ultimately finished tied 16th at the season finale to secure a career‑best 18th in the final standings.
Determined to go one better in 2026, Hillier carried that momentum straight into the new campaign. He opened with a tie for fifth at the BMW PGA Australian Championship and tied sixth at the Crown Australian Open, then returned after Christmas with a runner‑up finish at the Dubai Invitational.
A tie for 26th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic followed, before a tie for fourth in Bahrain and another top‑20 in Qatar set the stage for his emotional home victory in New Zealand.
After that win, Hillier and his wife headed off on their honeymoon, giving him an extended spell away from competitive golf.
Now teeing it up for the first time since March 1, he is hopeful he can shake off any rust while staying motivated by the near‑miss that fuelled him at the end of last season.
“It was the best day of our lives,” Hillier reflected on his wedding. “We had a bit of time to soak it all in, we had our honeymoon, and now I’m feeling fresh and ready to come back out this week in China.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a break that long. I felt a little bit antsy at the end of it, I was ready to get back out. There may be a little bit of rust to get rid of but hopefully that doesn’t last too long.
“Looking back on last year, I came close to one of those PGA TOUR cards, so hopefully I can make up that little bit of difference that I didn’t quite manage.”
While he may be wary of rust, what Hillier does have in his favour is both the experience of this course last year and the likelihood of a demand on iron play.
He dropped to tied 36th here after a disappointing weekend during the 2025 edition of the Volvo China Open, but is hopeful that conditions will play into his favour.
The highest ranked player in the field this week, Hillier is also ranked inside the top five on Tour for Strokes Gained Approach, Greens in Regulation and tops the list for Par Four Scoring. With potential adjustments needed after rain overnight on Tuesday, Hillier is feeling optimistic about his chances.
“It’s definitely a strong course, and it’s changed a lot since Tuesday – we obviously had a lot of rain overnight,” he said. “It’s gone from being extremely firm and fast to soft and slow, so there’s a bit of adjustment needed.
“You need to be on with your irons especially. You’re going to have your mid‑long irons coming into the greens and usually that’s my strength, so hopefully we have another week of that.”
