New Norwegian star makes most of unlikely chance, scores first tour win with ice-cold finish at Truist Championship
Kristoffer Reitan barely made it into last week's field and this week's field, but by the end he had calmy collected his first PGA Tour title, joining Viktor Hovland as the only Norwegians to do so.
On one hand, you could be forgiven for calling 28-year-old Kristoffer Reitan the story-killer. If he hadn't shown a composure that belied his experience on the back nine at Quail Hollow on Sunday, cruising to a two-shot victory at the Truist Championship as his opponents faltered around him, we might be talking about something like: —Rickie Fowler earning his first tour win in three years —Alex Fitzpatrick putting the doubters to rest after they questioned his two-plus year exemption for winning the Zurich Classic with his brother —Nicolai Hojgaard becoming the first Danish man to win on the PGA Tour All great stories, yes, but to regret their nonfulfillment is to sell Reitan short: he's got a pretty good story, too. The Norwegian has been quietly creeping up on the top levels of the game, earning his PGA Tour card for 2026 by capturing two DP World Tour events last year, and then hanging around the top half of leaderboards in America through the spring.
In the last month, a T-10 at the Texas Open and a T-14 in Doral spoke to his potential. At the Cadillac Championship a week ago, he made it into the field on Thursday afternoon, when Jake Knapp withdrew with a thumb injury. It felt so improbable to both him and his caddie Tim Poyser that Poyser flew back to Scotland.
He had to hurry back on the first available flight, arriving on Friday to loop for the man that eventually finished inside the top 15. A double bogey on the last hole in that event seemed to doom him for this week's Truist, but in the arcane formulas that determine fields at signature events, a late Alex Smalley bogey moved enough pieces around to give Reitan qualification through the Aon 5. And now look at him.
Reitan's Saturday 64 vaulted him to just one shot off Alex Fitzpatrick's 54-hole lead, but when the latter faded early on Sunday, Reitan seized a quick lead. An even par front kept him near the top, though by early on the back nine, the crowded leaderboard included four players at 13 under. To win, he'd have to outduel Fowler, Hojgaard, and several others.
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