New Zealander Daniel Hillier wins BMW with hole-in-one despite mishit at Spanish Open

MADRID (AP) — Daniel Hillier wasn't happy with how he hit his 8-iron on the 17th hole of the Spanish Open on Thursday. He liked the result, though: a hole-in-one that secured him an all-electric BMW.

Hillier aced the 187-yard par-3 despite the mishit and won a BMW iX5 SUV valued at 140,338 euros (about $157,000), according to the European tour.

The hole-in-one helped Hillier shoot a 4-under 67 that left him tied for fourth place after Thursday's first round.

“It was pretty crazy," the 28-year-old New Zealander said. “To be honest, I toed it quite a bit. Wasn’t too happy with the strike. I was telling it to go the whole way, but it kind of hung in the air for a little bit longer than I thought. And then, yeah, heard some cheers.”

Hillier said he didn’t immediately know he had made the ace as his ball pitched pin high and took one hop to the left before rolling in.

“Obviously, you can’t see the bottom of the hole from the tee, so yeah, saw everyone jump up at the back of the grandstand there,” he said. "A little bit of disbelief for a while, but it’s nice to see it go in.”

Hillier, who won his national open in March just days after getting married, said he thinks it was his fifth career hole-in-one.

"(The year) just keeps getting better," he said. "Hopefully I can continue that for another couple of months.”

The BMW was available only to the first player who made a hole-in-one on the hole this week.

“I didn’t realize a car was on offer,” Hillier said. “I’ve locked it up pretty early, but absolutely stoked and very grateful. It’s going to be a long drive though (to New Zealand), I know that much.”

Grant Forrest, Connor Syme and Eugenio Chacarra shared the lead at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid after opening rounds of 5-under 66. Sergio Garcia was among those one shot back.

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