New Norwegian star makes most of unlikely chance, scores first tour win with ice-cold finish at Truist Championship
· Yahoo Sports
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:
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—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. But the tension took effect, as did the difficulty of Quail Hollow, and arriving to the relatively easy 14th and 15th holes, Reitan had a chance to put his stamp on the tournament.
That's exactly what he did, with two consecutive birdies. An up-and-down from the sand on 14 and a two-putt from 55 feet on 15 gave him a lead he wouldn't relinquish. Fitzpatrick's double bogey on 17 saw his chances come to an end, and when Hojgaard couldn't sink his birdie putt at the last to apply any pressure, Reitan capped off the improbable win with a simple two-putt par.
"I don't have any words, to be honest," he said in the moments after his victory. "This is way more than I expected, and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal. Dream come true."
Reitan 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.
The improbability, though, doesn't stop with just making the field. In 2022, in the midst of serious struggles with his game, he took most of a year off from the sport. He even entertained the idea of making a career from YouTube golf. He recommitted to the idea of finding joy in the game, and the joy led to the success he'd been chasing.
"It helped me find my game again," he said. "It helped me discover my talents again. It was something really important to me, which I try to remind myself of every single day."
Jared C. Tilton
On the nuts and bolts, Reitan has excelled off the tee in 2026, been slightly below average on approach, and genuinely struggled putting. That all changed this week, when he finished with 5.158 strokes gained/putting, better than anyone in the field except Patrick Rodgers. He was similarly top-10 off the tee and on approach, but on Sunday, it was the pair of clutch birdie putts on 14 and 15 that made up the ultimate margin of victory.
Alex Fitzpatrick, despite positive words from Rory McIlroy and his own brother, stumbled both at the start and the finish, and could only muster a solo fourth-place finish despite showing impressive resolve early on the back nine, with three birdies in four holes to surge back to the top of the leaderboard. He was joined there by Fowler, who came out scorching hot to post a 30 on the front nine, and reached 14 under before a bogey on 18. His 65 gave him the clubhouse lead, and it lasted all the way until the final putt when Reitan closed the deal. Cameron Young, fresh off a Saturday 63—the best round of the tournament—and his win last week in Doral, struggled from the start and limped to a closing 74 for a T-10 finish.
Reitan will tee it up this coming week at the PGA Championship, his first time in that event and just the fourth major of his career. A victory at Aronimink feels far-fetched, even after capturing a signature event, but when you consider the trajectory of Reitan's career, and especially his last month, "far-fetched" starts to look like a better bet than you'd expect.