Whitney Hillier returned to her best at the 2026 VP Bank Swiss Ladies contending up to the 54th hole to record her lowest finish on the Ladies European Tour (LET) since 2022 and put a difficult few years behind her.
The popular Aussie has appeared sporadically on the LET since the summer of 2023 having endured a battle with long-COVID that had doctors baffled and threatened to prematurely end her career.
Hillier took a year out between July 2023 and June 2024 putting the clubs away as she sought answers on what eventually be diagnosed as a COVID vaccine-related illness.
Back to full heath and targeting a complete schedule of tournaments once again, Hillier produced a brilliant performance at Golfpark Holzhäusern carding rounds of 66-67-68 to finish one shot behind winner Eleanor Givens – a player she turned professional alongside in 2012.
The result was Hillier’s best on the LET since the 2022 Jabra Ladies Open where she also finished T2.
“It feels so good,” the 35-year-old said. “The feeling is addictive. You just want to compete, play, and get close to winning. I was bogey-free today. Technically I couldn’t do much else. I mean, I left so many putts out there, but it was tough to read the putts under that sun. It’s my first time contending since 2022 and it felt so good. I slept really well and was in a good mental space. It’s just so nice to have my golf back to where it was.
“I’ve had some serious health issues as well as personal issues off the course. Just dealing with that mentally, trying to get over that, I’ve had to work on myself and rebuild my team. It’s been so refreshing and it’s awesome that I can be myself again.
“Ellie [Givens] is also one of the OGs! She’s been on tour 14/15 years, the same time as me. So it’s really, really cool to see her win. She’s also had a heap of health issues. We had a chat about it over a year ago in Perth. We said, look, it doesn’t matter about the result, it’s just about being fit and healthy. And now we’re both back playing great again. So yeah, how cool.”
Hillier, a veteran on the LET with over 185 appearances to her name, was helped by former DP World Tour player Gary Evans who was on caddie duties in Switzerland. The Englishman finished T5 at the 2002 Open Championship and met Hillier through a chance encounter last month.
“I met Gary about four weeks ago playing in England,” the Australian explained. “We clicked right from the start. He’s got such great banter and he’s got all the experience. So it’s great to have to him on the bag and help me get my mojo back. He kept me calm all day. Every day, actually. It was such a great team effort. It was so exciting and I had so much fun all week.”
The 2026 VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open proved to be an emotional one for several of the Australians in the field as they tee’d up in tribute to Jessica Bang, the 18-year-old WPGA Tour of Australasia member who tragically lost het life earlier in the week.
Hillier said: “The situation with Jessica [Bang], my friend’s Grandma died earlier this week, there’s been other deaths in my family this year, so I was playing for other people. It puts things into perspective about how lucky we are to be playing golf.
“She [Jesscia] was entered to play KLPGA Q School in Thailand and she’s not with us anymore. I didn’t know her very well, but I met her through the Aussie summer this year. She was such a sweet player and had already won as well.“
With the excellent finish in Switzerland, Hillier jumped to 64th on the LET Order of Merit and also qualified for next week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
“I was second reserve for Ireland, and getting into that was actually my main goal for the week,” the 35-year-old said, whose best finish of the season prior to the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open was a T37 at the Ford Women’s NSW Open. “I really wanted to play K Club so it’s great to now be in. I’ll go to England for a week, keep on grinding and then it’s off to Ireland.”
The 2026 KPMG Women’s Irish Open gets underway on Thursday 27 August at The K Club. Keep up with all the action across the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube.
