Abu Dhabi Championship: Daniel Hiller finishes fifth as Aaron Rai takes title

Kiwi golfer Daniel Hillier has claimed a $619,000 payday and moved closer to a spot on the PGA Tour with a fifth-placed finish at the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship.

The 27-year-old made the penultimate event of the DP World Tour season count, finishing 22-under-par for the tournament and three shots behind English winner Aaron Rai. The tournament had a prize fund of €7,785,945 ($16 million), with Rai taking home €1.318m.

Finishing in a tie for fifth – alongside another Englishman, Richard Mansell – Hillier claimed €301,342 as well as 348.05 points toward his standing on the tour rankings.

While the field being cut from 75 players to 50 for this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai was never going to see Hillier miss out on a spot, there are implications for the Kiwi higher up the leaderboard.

The DP World Tour offers 10 PGA Tour cards for players who are not already exempt for the following season. With this result, Hillier moved three spots up the ladder into 17th and has just two other golfers ahead of him for that last PGA Tour exemption.

Currently, Englishman Jordan Smith holds that final PGA Tour card and he sits just under 200 points ahead of Hillier.

While it was a strong result, the Wellington product might feel like he left a few places out there. After seven birdies earlier in the round, he sat at 24-under with four holes to play, before a double-bogey six on the par-four 15th.

He got one of those shots back with a birdie on the par-four 16th, before another bogey on the par-five 18th to finish his round at five-under for the day.

Fellow Kiwi Kazuma Kobori finished in a tie for 41st at 11-under for the week, with a one-under 71 in his final round - which included his second eagle on the par-five 11th.

In 41st, Kobori pocketed €42,144 but dropped three places to 41st on the season leaderboard.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.