Golf: Daniel Hillier on the cusp of securing DP World Tour card

Daniel Hillier celebrates one of ten birdies during his final round at the Swiss Challenge. Photo / Getty

Wellington golfer Daniel Hillier is likely to join Ryan Fox on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) next season after his stunning victory at the European Challenge Tour's Swiss Challenge tournament in France.

The 24-year-old has rocketed from 26th in the Tour standings to 13th after the two-shot win, with the top 20 players after the season-ending Tour finale in Spain in November securing their main Tour cards.

Hillier produced the form of his career in the final round, carding an eight under 64 after starting the day four shots off the lead.

He told the Herald he can probably secure his DP World Tour card even if he doesn't play well over the next few weeks.

"Yes, 100 per cent. I mean, there's quite a gap between where I am (13th) and 20th place at the moment. So, I mean, there's even a chance that if I don't play great for the next few weeks, I can still have a pretty good chance of getting my Tour card. But obviously that's not the way you want to be thinking.

"I'm still going to keep my head down. And, you know, why not? Why not challenge number one spot now that I've given myself a few points this week? I just have to keep my head down and keep playing good golf," Hillier said.

Hillier had endured some scratchy form in recent months with just one top-ten result in his previous seven starts. He needed a decent result to stay in the hunt for his card.

"It was a pretty crazy week. I was in a pretty awkward position there, just outside the top 20 - where we need to be to get our cards - and going into that final round I was playing pretty solid but obviously a few shots back. I knew I needed to push for a low one.

"But it was just one of those days where everything clicked at the right time. I didn't really think that eight under was out there on that golf course. But I probably hit it as good as I ever have," reflected Hillier.

There are three tournaments left on the calendar before November's tour finale and Hillier plans to play them all, starting this week at the Hopps Open de Provence in Mallemart, France. He then heads to Cornwall for the British Challenge (October 6th-9th) before playing in the English Trophy at Abingdon from the 13th to 16th October.

"Yeah, I'll play all three of those. We've got two weeks off before the final. So yeah, I think I've definitely got enough energy to polish off three in a row and then have a nice little break, get refreshed for the final after that," Hillier said.

Hillier revealed his putting has been the area he has improved most recently.

"It's been really good these past couple of weeks. I haven't been particularly impressed with my ball striking for the last month or two, it's just been a bit inconsistent.

"But I just went back to my old routines and some habits were creeping in, but I've managed them pretty well in the past. And I think just going back to what I know really sort of helped me get the ball-striking back on track and yeah, like I said, probably haven't hit it as good as I did in that final round for a long time so really happy that I know what I need to be working on and I'm doing all the right things."