24 Jun 2023

Hillier takes outright lead after BMW International second round

9:32 am on 24 June 2023
Daniel Hillier.

Daniel Hillier. Photo: Photosport

New Zealand golfer Daniel Hillier carded a blemish-free second round on Saturday to lead the BMW International Open in Munich by one shot.

Hillier soared from a share of 10th to the outright lead with an excellent five-under 67 in blustery conditions which has the 24-year-old from Wellington in line to record a career-best result.

He leads by one shot from Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, with a further stroke back to Dutch golfer Joost Luiten.

Hillier can boast a win on the second-tier European Challenge Tour in each of the last two seasons, the most recent at last year's Swiss Challenge, which helped him earn a full time DP World Tour card.

He has made just three of his last nine cuts but one of those brought his best finish of the season so far - a tie for sixth at the KLM Open in the Netherlands.

"Pretty tough conditions out there. Breeze is definitely up and making it tricky. Pretty swirling winds as well," he told the Tour's website on Saturday.

"I played really solid front nine. There were a couple of lucky ones coming in and managed to go round bogey-free which was pretty good.

"I think it helps when you come from Wellington, playing in the wind all your life. Then you have to navigate your way around it."

- RNZ