Not every perfect shot ends in a birdie, nor does every poor shot end in disaster. Just ask Daniel Hillier, the protagonist of one of the big anecdotes from the first day of the Open de España presented by Madrid played on Thursday. The New Zealander, 28 years old, wasn’t very happy with the strike of his 8-iron on the 17th hole at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. However, a few seconds later he was celebrating a spectacular hole-in-one that won him a BMW iX5 electric car worth €140,338.
The shot took place on the par-3 17th, playing 187 yards (171 metres), where the organisers had put up a special prize for the first player to hole out in one shot during the tournament. Hillier didn’t even know there was a car on offer when he stepped up to the tee. And he could hardly have imagined that a strike that hadn’t left him with good feelings would end up becoming one of the most profitable shots of his career.
🚨HOLE-IN-ONE🚨
Daniel Hillier makes a hole-in-one on 17 from 187 yards to win a BMW iX5.#OpenEspana pic.twitter.com/vwYKlbLoU7
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 8, 2026
“It was crazy. To be honest, I caught it a bit on the toe of the club. I wasn’t too happy with the strike. I was asking the ball to run out the whole flight, but it stayed in the air a little longer than I expected. And then I heard some screams,” recounted the New Zealand golfer.
The ball landed level with the flag, took a small bounce to the left and finished rolling until it disappeared into the hole. Hillier, however, couldn’t check it directly from his position. It was the crowd’s reaction that made him realise what he had just achieved. “From the tee you can’t see the bottom of the hole, so I saw everyone stand up at the back of the grandstand. For a while I couldn’t believe it, but it was really nice to see it go in,” he explained.
The prize, a BMW iX5 fully electric, had an extra twist: only the first player to record a hole-in-one on that hole during the week could take it. Hillier settled the question at the first opportunity, on the opening day, leaving the rest of the field with no chance of winning the vehicle.
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“I didn’t even know there was a car as a prize. I’ve secured it pretty early, but I’m absolutely thrilled and very grateful. Although it’s going to be a fairly long trip to New Zealand,” joked the player from Oceania, aware of the logistical difficulties of taking his new car home.
The shot also had sporting consequences. Hillier completed his first round with 67 strokes, four under par, placing him in a share of fourth, one shot off the leaders. The Scot Grant Forrest, his compatriot Connor Syme and the Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra topped the leaderboard after returning cards of 66.
For Hillier, who estimates this was the fifth hole-in-one of his career, the episode represents a new chapter in an especially happy year. Last March he won the Open in his country just days after getting married, and now he adds a luxury car to his collection thanks to a shot that, at least at the moment of impact, hadn’t convinced him much.
“The year just keeps getting better. I hope I can keep this run going for another couple of months,” he concluded. In Madrid, he certainly already has plenty of reasons to remember his time at the tournament. And all thanks to an 8-iron that came out much worse than he intended.
