2026 is a year that Daniel Hillier will never, ever forget.
In February he married partner Siobhan and just days later claimed an emotional home win at the New Zealand Open that in most seasons would have been the biggest event in Kiwi golf.
Ryan Fox's victory at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July knocked Hillier's achievement down to second billing but the 28-year-old did not begrudge his great friend taking the limelight, quite the opposite.
"Oh man, I just got goosebumps just thinking about it," he told the DP World Tour at this week's BMW PGA Championship. "It was so cool.
"I was pin high left on 18 in the stands there and then seeing that putt drop, I don't think I've ever screamed as loud as I did. I had a few tears rolling down the face, so it was incredible.
"It's such an amazing sporting moment for New Zealand and obviously Foxy and his family as well. It's pretty hard to put into words what it's done for the country."
An aversion to the spotlight and an eagerness to give those around him due credit are two things that stand out as we catch up at Wentworth Club.
Hillier may have some way to go to reach the heights of Fox but he has the same laidback charm that has made his compatriot such a popular figure on the DP World Tour.
And while he does not have the sporting heritage of Fox – son of All Black great Grant – his own father played a huge role in his sporting upbringing.
"I played a lot of sports growing up," he said. "I played football, cricket, did swimming, obviously golf as well. But I think over time I came to realise that golf was probably the sport for me.
"I love my team sports and up until I was about 14, 15, I played those and had to decide what one I wanted to continue with and golf turned out to be the one for me. I played pretty socially up until I was about 12, 13 and then took it pretty seriously after that and now here we are.
"My old man played a bit and he coached all my junior sports teams as well, so he kind of got me into all the sports and we started into golf as well and he's been great.
"He knows a little about a lot, which is awesome. I love him, I love him. It's not a demeaning comment by any means, but no, he does. He has been a big help in a lot of areas of my life and golf was one of them early on and it was pretty cool.
"We used to go out on the weekends after my cricket games and get an 18-hole round in the afternoon and so he's definitely been a big influence in my journey for sure."
Another influence in his journey was injury, which meant he would have required surgery if he was to continue playing cricket and football.
So it was golf that was to become his pursuit and in the long-term his career, although it was not without its challenges.
Major winner Michael Campbell and fellow Kiwi golfer Steven Alker have both spoken of the determination and toughness that is bred from being from one the most remote nations on earth.
Hillier agrees that that can be a factor and he is full of praise for the role Golf New Zealand played in expanding his horizons.
"We are pretty far away," he said. "The opportunities are harder to come by, I think, but also with the resources that we do have, we do really well.
"Going through the Golf New Zealand programme, they sent me overseas as much as they could because that was obviously the thing that we needed to be able to do to see how we stacked up against the rest of the world. I was lucky to be able to get a lot of that exposure that I needed at a young age.
"It was a little tougher with the time differences and the travel times and all that sort of stuff but they did a great job and I think New Zealanders, we just love sport in general. I think our passion for sports is pretty big and so I think when you have that passion, regardless of the size of the country, you're going come out with some pretty competitive folks and it's pretty cool that we've done so well as a country despite our size and how far away we are from everything."
His first real exposure on the international stage came at the 2018 US Amateur, where he shared stroke play honours, and he followed that success by qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Open.
He was just 20 when he missed the cut at Pebble Beach and while it was a learning experience for a player who was still an amateur, Hillier admits he is still not entirely at ease on the big stage.
"I didn't feel like I was out of my depth but it was quite scary," he said. "I'm a bit more of a sheltered character, I think. I don't like to be in the spotlight but it's one of those things that when you're out here and you're competing and you're doing well, that's just the way it goes.
"You have the cameras on you and expectations from yourself and others rise and it was a bit of a learning curve for me. To have those results early on was nice but it took me a while to get comfortable, I'm still not comfortable with it. So I think it was pretty important at that stage, that overseas exposure that we got at a bit more of an early stage was pretty crucial for me to learn how to tackle those feelings and experiences and just keep progressing."
The paid ranks swiftly followed and a bright start saw him register two top tens on the HotelPlanner Tour but Covid soon halted his momentum.
Kiwis from all over the world headed home and faced some of the most stringent restrictions on the planet as New Zealand – and most of the rest of the world – locked down.
"Looking back in the moment, it was pretty defeating," said Hillier. "We were in lockdown in New Zealand for over a month and couldn't leave the house and it was like, you've worked your whole life to be able to play golf as a profession and then it almost felt like it was kind of stripped away from you for a bit.
"So that was pretty hard to take I got a little bit down because of it but it also made me appreciate it once I was back out there and now we're on the Challenge Tour in 2021.
"It was pretty tough with the Covid restrictions and the bubble that we had to stay in, and I was overseas for I think about seven months without going home.
"But it was just great to be out there competing again and pretty cool that I was able to make the most of that opportunity."
That 2021 season brought with it a first professional win at the Challenge Costa Brava but just as Spain brought ecstasy, it would soon bring agony.
Hillier entered the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A in Mallorca 18th in the Rankings and on course for a DP World Tour card but a finish of 36th dashed that dream.
He slipped outside the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca and another season on the HotelPlanner Tour lay ahead but, as was becoming a theme, Hillier used adversity to make himself better.
"Obviously at the time a little bit disheartening but it definitely fuelled the fire and I think along the way I learned what I needed to do to get better as well," he said.
"You learn a lot from your mistakes and I made sure that I rectified those in the following year and it was great to get another step further and another level better and it was pretty cool to get that card the second time around."
Another victory at the Swiss Challenge and graduation came in 2022 and the following year an incredible birdie-eagle-birdie finish at The Belfry handed him a first DP World Tour title at the British Masters.
After false dawns in 2020 and 2021, it looked like Hillier was about to truly establish himself but in 2024 he slumped to 94th on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Once again, he used disappointment as a ladder.
"After that win I think the expectations rose a little bit but at the same time, I know golf's a fickle game and you're not going to always be playing at your best," he said.
"It's just one of those things, the more you let it wear you down I think the more it sort of transfers into your game. So that second year wasn't my best but I definitely learned how to just grind it out when it wasn't going perfectly, which was good."
All of that experience has helped Hillier get to the point where he is now a truly established DP World Tour star.
Last season he missed out on dual membership with the PGA Tour by one spot as he finished a career-best 18th on the Race to Dubai with the help of a best Rolex Series result of second at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
He rode that momentum into the 2026 campaign and good results across the Opening and International Swings led into that emotional win on home soil at Millbrook Resort.
"It was incredible," he says. "I mean, it's one that I've wanted to tick off the list since I started playing competitively and to do it in front of all my friends and family was really special.
"I remember Foxy had a chat with me not long after and he was saying he's quite jealous of me having a New Zealand Open under the belt and he hadn't. Then a few months later he goes and wins The Open.
"I said, 'You probably feel slightly less jealous now, don't you, mate?' He said, 'Yeah, absolutely'.
"But Foxy is saying that about having a New Zealand Open, it's something about it that's just different to winning any other event. You put it on such a pedestal and rightly so, it's your home country and you've got all your home fans there and a lot of support and your own expectations kind of rise and I was thankful that I was able to overcome all that and put out some of my best performances in front of my nearest and dearest."
Fox is a decade older than Hillier and the relationship between the two has clearly been a help to the younger man.
It has evolved from one of role model to friend and Hillier is happy to learn from the Open champion as much outside the ropes as in.
"I've definitely got to know him a lot over the last few years," said Hillier, who was Fox's Team New Zealand team-mate at the 2024 Olympics.
"Going through New Zealand Golf, we didn't have too much to do with him but he gave up his time when he could and we had the odd dinner and stuff with him as a group.
"He was sort of sharing what tour life was all about and what we had to look forward to and the things to look out for and all that stuff. It was great that he was kind enough to give up his time when we were sort of getting ready for that stage.
"Now we're out here, he's been great. I have practice rounds with him, I dinners with him. He's taught me how to go about things out here on tour and just it's great seeing the way he goes about it as well. He's so relaxed and I think a lot of people can learn a lot from him and the way he approaches the game and life in general. He is pretty easy going and doesn't take it too seriously. So that's kind of what I try to do as well
"I think he probably thinks as well, the more you're just having fun and enjoying it, the better off you are. And so that's been cool to have been able to become pretty good mates with him over these last few years and awesome to see how well he's done."
While he has Fox as a support on Tour and his parents get out to Majors when they can, it will be new bride Siobhan to whom Hillier will turn most often.
Still based in New Zealand, she will nonetheless become a regular fixture in tour life, one for which Hillier is grateful as he climbs the ladder in a career which takes him to every corner of the globe.
"When you're trying to get as good as you can in anything, it's easy to get consumed by it, but Siobhan's been a saving grace for me, she's definitely helped me be more present," he said.
"When I have a bad day on the golf course, she doesn't really care. She just wants me to be there and enjoying our time together, which is great.
"Especially being so far away from home when she's out here, which she probably comes to maybe 10, 12 events a year, which is pretty cool, it's just nice to have a piece of home when you're on the other side of the world.
"I guess It's always going to be a juggling act, for sure, especially being so far away from home and in the future if there's a family, who knows what's going to happen. It's only going to get more crazy but I mean it's all good stuff. It's pretty cool.
"I've got some pretty awesome people in my life and a lot of support from back home and over here so that makes it a little easier to tackle all the different elements that come with being overseas for so long."
Inside the ropes, Hillier is getting back to his best after a slight dip in form through the summer.
He missed four cuts in a row but took a break and returned to New Zealand where he recharged his batteries, spent time with family and played a little golf, making his comeback with a runner-up finish at a happy hunting ground of The Belfry.
His start this week at DP World Tour HQ was his 111th on golf's global tour and the experience gained over his previous 110 has prepared him well for the ups and downs of a "fickle" game.
"I think I'm starting to own my game a bit more now," he said. "I think that's probably the thing. I'm not trying to change things in my game just because I think that's what I should be doing. It's more my game's got me this far, how can I just improve on what I'm already good at and tighten things up that might be a little bit of a gap in the game?
"I don't feel like I have to reinvent the wheel to get to that next level and I know my best stuff is probably as good as most out there. So it's just a matter of honing in what I'm good at now and try not to get lost in the pursuit of trying to get better.
"You see people go down rabbit holes and trying to find that extra one per cent and it can backfire pretty quick. So yeah, just being careful about what I'm working on and why I'm doing the things I'm doing."
At 12th on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, Hillier is once again well positioned for a career-best year and potentially an even more travelled schedule with a PGA Tour card.
After narrowly missing out in 2025, dual membership is very much at the forefront of his mind but should he miss out again, he would still be a man happy with his lot in life.
"It'd be amazing to get that PGA Tour card but at the same time I love Europe and I love playing in Europe, I love competing, I love the people out here, the courses, the cultures, everything about it, so I'm like, worst case is still pretty good," he said.
"This year has been another pretty good year and hopefully I can get it done this year but if not I'm still loving my time out here in Europe and if I can have a great career in Europe, spend 20 years out here, I'd still be pretty happy. It's not the be all and end all for me if I don't make it."
