Dan Hillier and Josh Geary contend in Austria
Daniel Hillier – a win or top three finish tomorrow will go a long way to DP World Tour status next season
New Zealanders Josh Geary and Daniel Hillier are in a share of second place and three off the lead at the European Challenge Tour’s Euram Bank Open in Ramsau in Austria.
For both players, a win tomorrow would play a key role in their chase for European Tour status in 2023, Hillier in particular all but assured of playing at the next level should he win.
Hillier is currently 24th in the Road to Morocco standings but a win and the accompanying 40,000 points would move him to inside the top five and with the top twenty at season’s end earning their right to play the European Tour, tomorrow might prove a big moment in the life of Hiller.
Even a runner-up or 3rd place finish for Hillier would get him inside the top ten and leave him well positioned as the schedule leads into the last half of its season.
Geary would move inside the top 25 with a win and very close to the top twenty and while there are still another 13 events left before season’s end, a win would be of huge significance for both.
Hillier has missed the weekend ion four of his last five starts so this represents a major turnaround for the 23-year-old Wellingtonian his round of 63 today, the best on day three.
Hillier narrowly missed out on graduating last year when finishing 23rd in the season ending rankings and has for some time ben considered New Zealand’s brightest emerging stars. He won a Challenge Tour event last year but finished just short of the required mark to make it to the European Tour last year but could well get there in 2022.
The leader is Germany’s Freddy Schott.
