He couldn’t chase down the Spaniard but closed the gap to two shots with seven birdies and two bogeys on the final day to earn €392,035 ($779,111).
“Pretty tiring week. Obviously few delays out there. Pretty hot, which I’m not usually a fan of. I think I was like four-over through 14 holes in the first round or something, and I don’t know what happened, what clicked. I just started finding the club face and holing a few putts. The rest is history,” Hillier said.
The Open champion Ryan Fox missed the cut but hung around to support Hillier in the final two rounds. Hillier said his compatriot has been on his case about joining him on the PGA Tour.
“Foxy, has been heating it on all year, so hopefully – I don’t know if that will solidify it or not, but playing golf together and trying to play my best golf, if I can solidify the card, it would be amazing.
“Obviously we’re a long way from home a lot of the time. It’s pretty cool to have some familiar faces around. He is such a great guy as well, pretty easy-going, so always a good time with him.”
Chacarra, who won the Dutch Open and the Open d’Italia in June and Indian Open last year, moves to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings.
Chacarra overtook the American Patrick Reed, who finished on eight-under at Delhi Golf Club.
Six-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who had been in the hunt after the weather-disrupted first two days, is third in the Race to Dubai and finished tied 42nd at four-under.
The 26-year-old Chacarra carded a final-round two-under-par 70 and pumped his fist to celebrate his third win on the European tour this season.
“I know it’s not going to be easy,” Chacarra said of his Race to Dubai chances.
“Rory in Dubai always plays good and I know it’s going to be a big battle. Patrick, too. Two of the best players in the world coming for me now, and I know they’re not going to make it easy.”
A teary-eyed Chacarra dedicated the win to his grandfather, who died 10 days earlier, saying: “He is watching me somewhere from up there.”
Chacarra’s recent form has been impressive.
In his previous two tournaments, he was tied second at the Open de Espana and third at the FedEx Open de France.
Chacarra’s fellow Spaniard, Angel Hidalgo, and Poland’s Adrian Meronk were tied third on 15-under.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the defending champion, finished tied fifth at 13-under.
With the tournament playing catch-up, Chacarra, who broke his toe a couple of weeks ago and overcame a neck problem, completed his third round in the morning to extend his sole lead.
He carded a nine-under-par 63 and kept up the charge in the final round with three birdies against one bogey.
“Last week it was really tough [broken toe], but this week doing all the ice and taking all the medications was better,” said Chacarra.
“But my neck was just in a bad position at night on Monday. My physio did a great job and made me compete.
“And playing at less than 100% and to be able to win against this field gives me great motivation.”
Both Hillier and Fox are in the field for the Genesis Championship in South Korea starting Thursday NZT – the final event of the regular season.
The DP World Tour playoffs, if they go ahead, begin in the first week of November in Abu Dhabi followed by the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
– With AFP
Cameron McMillan has been a sports journalist since 2003 and is NZME’s Deputy Head of Sport.