Birdie-birdie finish

Daniel Hillier will take a one shot lead into the final round.#HeroDubaiDesertClassic | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/F71vbx9ME4

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 18, 2025

The 26-year-old, whose maiden DP World Tour title came at the 2023 Betfred British Masters, was in the final group, one shot behind the overnight leader, Ewen Ferguson. The pair started the day with breathing space from the chasing contenders, which included the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee and Rasmus Højgaard.

Hillier got off to the brighter start, birdieing three of his first five holes. The Scot, Ferguson, meanwhile, was heading in the opposite direction, two over through nine.

A four-shot lead was staring Hillier in the face in what was a turbulent day for all players.

“It was a grind,” said Hillier. “I figured it was going to be that way at the start of the day with all that wind. It was tough, but I enjoyed it out there.”

However, three consecutive bogeys from the 13th left the door ajar for the chasing pack, and England’s Hatton took full advantage with a 68 to set the clubhouse target at 12 under par.

Hillier responded with a birdie from six feet at the 17th, then cleared the water by a whisker with his second shot to the last hole, setting up a routine up-and-down gain as he signed for a two-under 70 and a 13-under total.

“Well, we thought we had plenty of club going in there. We were trying to hit it long left. Only 200 to carry the water, and I hit 5-wood.

“Usually that’s a 235, 240-yard club, and it just spun into the first cut.”

Ferguson ended up signing for a two-over 74 to lie third on ten under, with England’s Laurie Canter and Hillier’s countryman Ryan Fox tied for fourth, a shot further back.

“Yeah, it will be good,” said Hillier, commenting on Sunday’s final grouping. “I don’t think I’ve played with Tyrrell before, so that should be fun.

“It will be a good test. He’ll be raring to get his hands on that trophy, but I’d love to do the same. It will be a fun day.”

Whoever picks up the winner’s cheque, in this US$9 million prize pool, will take home a tasty $1.53 million. A nice start to 2025!

“It would be life-changing. Last year was pretty tough. It was a bit of a grind.

“I was getting pretty frustrated with myself towards the end of the year. Gave myself a little bit of a break and time to reset, and I’m feeling refreshed. Yeah, excited for tomorrow.”

Defending champion and four-time winner of the event, Rory McIlroy, is at six under par, seven shots back from Hillier.

Main Image: Getty Images / David Cannon

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The pair were grateful to be among the early starters at Doha Golf Club, getting in with seven-under rounds of 65 before first a sandstorm and then the threat of lightning forced play to be suspended.

The rain continues to pour #CBQMasters pic.twitter.com/zIO8kSCI2f

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 26, 2023

Scenes you don’t expect to see when in Qatar…

: @AntoineRozner #CBQMasters pic.twitter.com/P0qcc4HyFk

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 26, 2023

Jamieson’s fellow Scots Stephen Gallacher, Robert MacIntyre and defending champion Ewen Ferguson completed rounds of 66 to share second place with Spain’s Santiago Tarrío.

The leaders both started on the back nine and Jamieson, playing in one of the first groups out at 6am local time, hit the front immediately with a birdie at his first hole, the 10th, and added another three holes later.

He fired four in five holes from the 17th and rounded off a bogey-free day with a seventh birdie at the fifth.

He said: “Delighted with that start. It was pretty solid tee to green and I managed to hole some putts today, which has probably let me down in the last few weeks — certainly been hitting the ball well enough to do better than I have done — but today was a different story.

“It was lovely (being out first). The only problem is it is so humid but you obviously get less wind as you always know you are going to get wind here in the afternoon and the course is a little softer as well so, thankfully, I was able to take advantage of that.”

Hillier was slower to hit his stride but opened with six pars before bursting into life with birdies at the 16th and 18th, an eagle at the par-five first and another birdie at the second.

Further gains at the seventh and ninth took him alongside Jamieson and the New Zealander, speaking before the disruption from the weather, said: “It’ll be interesting to see how it goes this afternoon but I’ll be at the hotel kicking up my feet, so happy days.

“You have to battle with the heat this week. A little bit of wind out there made it bearable. I just didn’t do much wrong, had a good stretch through the middle that put me in a good position and kept my foot down from there.”

Tarrío finished off his own bogey-free round in style with an approach to two feet at the ninth to set up his sixth birdie.

The Spaniard is secure in the top 116 of the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, ensuring his presence on tour for another year.

But he admitted: “I never keep calm with myself. Never. Even with a card safe for next year. My problem is in my head, there’s a lot of wind inside there, never mind the golf course.

“I didn’t play my best golf this year, but I’m happy to stay one year more here with the big guys.”

Gallacher, the only one of the leading sextet to start on the front nine, birdied three of the first four holes and turned in 31 before adding a sixth and final birdie at the 16th.

MacIntyre finished with back-to-back birdies, helped by an approach to six feet at the ninth, while Ferguson turned in 34 before making his move with a hat-trick of birdies from the first.

Finnish pair Kalle Samooja and Sami Välimäki, Sean Crocker, Thriston Lawrence, Andy Sullivan, Pablo Larrazábal and Joshua Grenville-Wood shared seventh place on five-under.

Among those still to complete their rounds, Spain’s Alvaro Quiros and England’s Jordan Smith were highest on the leaderboard at three-under through nine holes.

Scott Jamieson. DP World Tour

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Daniel Hillier, Oliver Wilson and Gunner Wiebe have qualified for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool through the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

Hillier shot a final round 66 at The Belfry to lift his first DP World Tour title on a ten-under-par total of 278 and secure the first available place at Hoylake. The New Zealander will make his second appearance in The Open after his debut at Royal St George’s two years ago.

Wilson and Wiebe finished joint runner-up together on an eight-under-par total of 280 to claim the two remaining places.

Wilson’s last-gasp birdie on the 72nd hole means that the Englishman will tee it up for the seventh time in The Open and the first time since 2019 at Royal Portrush, while Wiebe will make his debut in golf’s original championship after a superb final round 66.

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Daniel Hillier produced a barnstorming finish to claim his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2023 Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.

After reaching the turn in 35 courtesy of two birdies and a single bogey on the front nine, European Challenge Tour graduate Hillier finished his round with a flourish, going eagle-birdie-eagle from the 15th to open up a two-shot lead.

The New Zealander suffered a late scare when he cleared the green at the tricky 18th, but he managed to save par there with a nerveless eight-foot putt to finish the tournament on ten under par.

With the final group several holes behind him, Hillier had to wait around an hour before finally being able to celebrate a stunning two-shot victory.

American Gunner Wiebe and Englishman Oliver Wilson were Hillier’s nearest challengers on eight under, with the trio booking their spots at the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Englishman Justin Rose and Scottish pair Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson were then in a tie for fourth on seven under, one ahead of Dane Niklas Nørgaard.

Starting the day three shots off the lead, Hillier came agonisingly close to holing his 22-foot eagle putt at the par-five third but instead had to settle for a tap-in birdie.

The 24-year-old gave the shot back after finding water at the sixth but did well to limit the damage to just a bogey.

He bounced back with a five-foot birdie on the ninth before parring each of the next five holes to remain some way off the pace.

But that suddenly changed at the long 15th as Hillier drained his 40-foot eagle effort to jump to seven under par.

And he followed that up with a stunning fairway bunker shot on the 16th to set up a close-range birdie, which earned him a share of the lead.

Hillier kept his foot on the gas at the par-five 17th, launching his second shot to six feet before tapping in the putt for his second eagle of the day.

Heading down the 18th with a two-shot lead, Hillier sent his second shot from the rough over the back of the enormous green – landing his ball alongside the trophy.

Knowing he still had work to do to avoid running up a big number, the New Zealander played a well-judged third before saving par from eight feet to give the chasing pack no realistic chance of catching him.

Hillier, who also recorded recent top-five finishes at the KLM Open and BMW International Open, was thrilled to enter the winner’s circle.

He said: “I’m over the moon and a bit lost for words.

“Those last few holes are going to take a while to process I think.

“The 15th – that tee shot’s been troubling me all week. It was nice to get one semi-in-play. A bit of an awkward lie for my second shot but managed to have a good five wood in there to 40 feet.

“The putt was racing but I managed to hit the back of the hole so that was a nice little bonus.

“And then a bit of a miscue on the 16th. Put it in that fairway trap but actually had a nice number in so it was a nice full wedge in there and I managed to get a nice little bounce off that slope.

“And then the 17th was a bit lucky. I just carried that trap and managed to make the most of that good break. 

“Then just held on for dear life down the last. I felt pretty good over (the final putt). I felt as comfortable as you can over a putt of that magnitude.

“And I just had to tell myself to put a good stroke on it.”

Hillier follows in the footsteps of countryman Bob Charles, who won this event in 1972, and he was thrilled to be in such illustrious company.

He added: “That’s pretty amazing. Obviously, he’s New Zealand’s golfing hero so it’s pretty cool to be on the same trophy as him.”

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