Daniel Hillier, a 28-year-old pro from New Zealand, has made some memorable swings in his career. In 2023, he made two eagles in his last four holes at the British Masters to secure his first DP World Tour win; he has played in three of the four majors (still working on the Masters); and earlier this year, in the wake of his New Zealand Open win, he broke into the top 100 in the world ranking.
On Thursday, Hillier added another swing memory to the scrapbook — an improbable one — with his tee shot on the par-3 17th hole in the first round of the Spanish Open.
Hillier didn’t love the strike. Not by any stretch.
“I toed it quite a bit,” he later confessed.
Yet the ball kept its line — directly at the front-left pin position.
“I was telling it to go the whole way, but it kind of hung in the air for a little bit longer than I thought,” he said. “And then, yeah, heard some cheers.”
Hole-in-one cheers.
That meant not only a rare “1” on Hillier’s scorecard at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid but, thanks to a sponsor promotion, also a new car for his garage.
A BMW iX5 SUV, valued at 140,338 euros, or nearly $160,000.
“I didn’t realize a car was on offer,” Hillier 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.”
The ace helped Hillier to an opening four-under 67. In the early-going of his second round on Friday, Hillier had added another birdie to climb to five under for the week, putting him four back of leader-in-the-clubhouse Scotsman Grant Forrest.
Hillier said he didn’t see the ball drop for what his fifth-ever ace, but the crowd’s reaction told him everything he needed to know.
“You can’t see the bottom of the hole from the tee, so yeah, saw everyone jump up at the back of the grandstand there,” he said. “A little bit of disbelief for a while, but it’s nice to see it go in.”
Yep, especially after catching it off the toe.
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