What that means is the rest of the New Zealand Open field might need to be on guard if the DP World Tour golfer is fit and firing this weekend.
Hillier had to play 23 holes yesterday, completing his rain-delayed first round to hold a share of the lead with an 8-under 63 before shooting a 68 in his second round.
That left him at 11-under and the clubhouse leader until young compatriot Yuki Miya slipped past by a shot.
"That wasn’t my best out there today," Hillier said.
"I didn’t feel great over the ball, and the swing felt a little bit off.
"But I missed in the right spots luckily, and took any chances that I had, which was nice.
"It’s been a long couple of days with a lot of golf crammed into a short period of time.
"I don’t think I really prepared for the second round as well as I could have. The stomach wasn’t great this morning so I spent a bit of time in the loo and didn’t eat anything, and I felt a bit flat in that second round."
Hillier’s second round, beginning on the 10th on the Remarkables layout, started with a rollercoaster nine holes that featured an eagle, a birdie and two bogies.
He was flawless on his second nine until finding the water on the last.
"I was saying to the other guys that it probably should have happened a lot earlier than it did.
"The swing wasn’t feeling that great. I stood up on the tee and tried to hole one against the wind and flipped it a bit.
"But I made a nice little up and down to limit the damage."
The newly-married Hillier missed a couple of gettable putts, but was not too bothered.
"My putter’s been pretty good the last couple of days. You can’t hole everything.
"There were a couple of short ones that I missed, but I holed my fair share of long ones as well.
"I’ve just got to keep plodding away, not put too much pressure on myself, and take one shot at a time."
The galleries for Hillier’s group, which included Australian professional Anthony Quayle and Australian tennis great Ash Barty, were arguably the biggest seen at Millbrook in years.
Hillier’s amateur partner, former Breakers basketball owner Paul Blackwell, gave the group a scare when he suffered a leg injury and needed medical treatment.
"That was stressful. He left me high and dry for a bit.
"It sucks when that stuff happens, but he’s an absolute trooper and he was able to carry on."
