DP World Tour Championship: Daniel Hillier finishes tied for 16th in Dubai, misses PGA Tour spot by two places

Monday, 17 November 2025

Daniel Hillier of New Zealand during his final round of 70 in the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, in Dubai.

A tearful Daniel Hillier was consoled by his parents after narrowly missing out on a prized PGA Tour card in the United Arab Emirates.

Hillier pocketed $180,000 for his 16th-equal finish at 11-under-par in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, but the result wasn’t quite enough to snare him one of 10 dual memberships on offer for the PGA Tour in 2026.

The 27-year-old from Wellington finished 12th on the rankings, just 158 points behind Englishman Jamie Smith who earned the 10th and final PGA Tour spot for those not already exempt. It was the same position Hillier started the tournament in, knowing he needed to leapfrog two players.

Hillier secured 158 ranking points to Smith’s 142 (he finished tied for 20th, one shot back), and needed more of a margin on his nearest rivals to secure a golden ticket to the US alongside compatriot Ryan Fox.

A clip posted on Instagram by the DP World Tour showed Hillier dabbing at his eyes with a towel and being embraced by his parents Karen and Nigel after completing his round at the Jumeirah Golf Estates Earth course.

Hillier made a flying start to his final round with birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh to sit amongst the leaders. But a bogey on the par-four eighth stalled his momentum and he completed the back-nine at even-par to shoot a final round 70, to be seven shots off the pace.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick shot a final round 66 to finish 18-under, before beating Rory McIlroy in a playoff to win the $5.27 million winner’s cheque. McIlroy took out the Race to Dubai title for a seventh time.

Hillier was 18th overall on the Race to Dubai rankings and 12th in the race to PGA Tour membership, with McIlroy, Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre and Aaron Rai all exempt.

Hillier said on the eve of the tournament: “I’m in a pretty lucky position where even if I don’t get it, I get to spend another year out here on the DP World Tour. It would be amazing getting a PGA Tour card, but I love playing in Europe as well. Regardless, I’m pretty happy with the year. That PGA Tour card is going to be a bonus anyway.”

Hillier earned $3.27 million from 28 tournaments in the 2025 season, the bulk of that from his runnerup finish to Hatton in the Dubai Desert Classic in January.

England’s Daniel Brown was the other golfer to agonisingly miss out, finishing 17th on the overall rankings and 11th in the PGA Tour race, just 31 points behind Smith and 127 ahead of Hillier.

Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen foiled Brown’s hopes when he rolled in a birdie on the last hole to secure his PGA Tour spot, showing how fine the margins can be. Neergaard-Petersen roared home with an eagle and three birdies on his last five holes to shoot 68 and finish 17-under in a tie for third and book his ticket to the US.

He earned 570 points which would have been enough for Hillier, too, showing the Kiwi needed to finish top-six or seven.

Another Kiwi, Kazuma Kobori, shot a final round of 75 to finish three-under in a tie for 42nd. The 24-year-old from Canterbury completed a solid year in Europe by finishing 44th on the Race to Dubai rankings.