"Hats off": Daniel Hillier pays 'bittersweet' tribute to Tyrrell Hatton after losing the Dubai Desert Classic

Daniel Hillier came close to winning the 2025 Dubai Desert Classic, but after the end of four rounds, he had to settle for a second place finish behind the tournament winner Tyrrell Hatton. The New Zealand-born professional golfer lost to Hatton by a margin of one stroke.

After the conclusion of the Dubai Desert Classic, Hillier was part of a press conference at the Emirates Golf Club. During this press conference, the second-place golfer was asked to speak about his emotions after he came off the 18th hole.

"Yeah, it's bittersweet, that's for sure. Yeah, I didn't have my best today obviously but I fought hard all day. Yeah, just barely gave myself a chance down the stretch. Hats off to Tyrrell. He was pretty solid down the stretch there. He's class. We will done to him," Daniel Hillier said via ASAP Sports.

Further, Hillier was also asked about what his start at the Dubai Desert Classic meant for the rest of the season. He outlined his plans for 2025 and said:

"Yeah, absolutely, one of my goals is to get off to a better start than I did the last couple of seasons. Kind of been playing catchup from the second half of the year, and yeah, it's just nice to start off solid and come back here and have one of my best performances."

In 2025, Daniel Hillier will be one golfer who will be looking to win a tournament, especially after a start like this. It's also worth noting that the last time Hillier won a professional golf tournament was on DP World Tour's Betfred British Masters in 2023.

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How much did Daniel Hillier earn at the 2025 Dubai Desert Classic?

The 2025 Dubai Desert Classic had a purse of $9,000,000. While the lion's share of this purse went to the tournament winner Tyrrell Hatton who earned $1,530,000, Daniel Hillier also earned a huge sum of $990,000 for his second place finish. Here is a detailed look at the payout for the event:

• 1 Tyrrell Hatton -15 $1,530,000
• 2 Daniel Hillier -14 $990,000
• 3 Laurie Canter -13 $563,400
• T4 Rory McIlroy -12 $415,800
• T4 Niklas Norgaard -12 $415,800
• T6 Tom McKibbin -11 $292,500
• T6 Shaun Norris -11 $292,500
• T8 David Micheluzzi -10 $213,300
• T8 Guido Migliozzi -10 $213,300
• T10 Ryan Fox -9 $161,325
• T10 Dylan Frittelli -9 $161,325
• T10 Rasmus Neergaard Petersen -9 $161,325
• T10 Patrick Reed -9 $161,325
• T14 Ricardo Gouveia -8 $135,000
• T14 Rasmus Hojgaard -8 $135,000
• 16 Ewen Ferguson -7 $126,900
• T17 Jordan Gumberg -6 $114,300
• T17 Calum Hill -6 $114,300
• T17 Min Woo Lee -6 $114,300
• T17 Robert Macintyre -6 $114,300
• T21 Tommy Fleetwood -5 $97,650
• T21 Julien Guerrier -5 $97,650
• T21 Jacques Kruyswijk -5 $97,650
• T21 Keita Nakajima -5 $97,650
• T21 Jayden Schaper -5 $97,650
• T21 Jason Scrivener -5 $97,650
• T27 Alexander Bjork -4 $84,150
• T27 Matthew Jordan -4 $84,150
• T27 Joost Luiten -4 $84,150
• T27 Connor Syme -4 $84,150
• T31 Marcus Armitage -3 $70,650
• T31 Ivan Cantero -3 $70,650
• T31 Francesco Laporta -3 $70,650
• T31 Mike Lorenzo Vera -3 $70,650
• T31 Thorbjorn Olesen -3 $70,650
• T31 Sebastian Soderberg -3 $70,650
• T37 Akshay Bhatia -2 $56,700
• T37 Todd Clements -2 $56,700
• T37 Joel Girrbach -2 $56,700
• T37 Casey Jarvis -2 $56,700
• T37 Alexander Knappe -2 $56,700
• T37 Adam Scott -2 $56,700
• T37 Johannes Veerman -2 $56,700
• T37 Preston Summerhays (am) -2 $0
• T45 Maximilian Kieffer -1 $44,100
• T45 Romain Langasque -1 $44,100
• T45 Richie Ramsay -1 $44,100
• T45 David Ravetto -1 $44,100
• T45 Matt Wallace -1 $44,100
• T45 Bernd Wiesberger -1 $44,100
• T45 Robin Williams -1 $44,100
• T52 Kiradech Aphibarnrat E $32,850
• T52 Dan Bradbury E $32,850
• T52 Louis De Jager E $32,850
• T52 Haotong Li E $32,850
• T52 Marcel Schneider E $32,850
• T52 Tom Vaillant E $32,850
• T58 Nacho Elvira 1 $26,100
• T58 Alfredo Garcia Heredia 1 $26,100
• T58 Richard Mansell 1 $26,100
• T58 Adrian Otaegui 1 $26,100
• T58 Marcel Siem 1 $26,100
• T58 Elvis Smylie 1 $26,100
• T58 Andy Sullivan 1 $26,100
• T65 Jens Dantorp 2 $21,600
• T65 Nicolai Hojgaard 2 $21,600
• T65 Jordan Smith 2 $21,600
• T68 Joe Dean 3 $18,900
• T68 Angel Hidalgo 3 $18,900
• T68 Jeong Weon Ko 3 $18,900
• T68 Adam Bresnu (am) 3 $0
• T72 Nicolas Colsaerts 4 $17,100
• T72 David Ford (am) 4 $0
• T74 Ugo Coussaud 5 $14,000
• T74 Jannik De Bruyn 5 $14,000
• T74 Daniel Gavins 5 $14,000
• T77 Sam Bairstow 8 $13,900
• T77 Fabrizio Zanotti 8 $13,900
• 79 Grant Forrest 14 $13,850