Kristoffer Reitan was not having much fun early in his career on the DP World Tour, and he began contemplating the idea of leaving competitive golf to become a YouTube golfer. He never followed through, instead sticking with his goal of winning tournaments. He’s glad he did.
The 28-year-old PGA TOUR rookie from Norway shot 2-under 69 on Sunday to earn a two-shot win over Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard at the Truist Championship for his first victory on the PGA TOUR.
Reitan, who chose golf over soccer at a young age, won twice previously on the DP World Tour but this week proved to be his breakthrough moment. He finished at 15-under 269.
“I don’t have any words, to be honest,” Reitan said. “This is way more than I expected and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal. Yeah, a dream come true.” Reitan said stepping away from the game for a bit after losing his DP World Tour card helped him gain perspective.
“It helped me find my game again,” Reitan said. “It helped me discover my talents again. Yeah, that was something really important to me, which I try to remind myself of every single day. So that was definitely a huge thing for me getting back and starting to play some good golf again.”
Alex Fitzpatrick, the third-round leader, finished three shots back after shooting 73. Reitan started the round one shot behind Fitzpatrick, but was even par for the day after 13 holes and one shot behind Fowler, who had surged to the lead after shooting 30 on the front nine.
“The first nine was ‘let’s go have a good day,’ and back nine was, ‘hey, we actually are in a spot where we can go win this,’” Fowler said.
But Fowler, who started the day seven shots behind, couldn’t sustain the momentum. Playing four groups ahead of the leaders, Fowler missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 16, opening the door for Reitan, Fitzpatrick, and Højgaard to pull into a four-way tie for the lead after all three made birdie.
Reitan took the lead for good when he hit his iron on the par-5 15th onto the green and two-putted for birdie. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick’s wedge got caught up in the thick rough and his chip barely made the fringe, leading to a par and dropping him back one shot. Højgaard made bogey on No. 16 to fall two back.
Fowler’s chances ended when his approach shot on the 18th hole landed in the deep rough on the left side of the green and his chip came out short leading to bogey. He finished with a round of 65.
Fitzpatrick was the last man standing in Reitan’s way, but he faltered again on No. 17 as his chip from the deep rough never made the green and he made double bogey. Reitan played the final three holes of the Green Mile in even par and secured the win with a par on No. 18.
Reitan’s best previous finish was a tie for second last month at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans when he and playing partner Kris Ventura lost by one stroke to Fitzpatrick and his brother, Matt.
When he was young, Reitan had two loves – soccer and golf. He realized pretty quickly he was better at golf, and his parents would take him to Spain every Christmas to give him a place to practice. On Sunday, he thanked them for making that investment in him.
“They have made golf a very, very high priority in our household,” Reitan said. “They have definitely made a great, great effort to at least help me get to the place I am today and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
It was a disappointing day for Cameron Young, the world’s No. 3 player. Looking for his second straight PGA TOUR win after a victory last week at Doral at the Cadillac Championship, Young started the day just two shots off the lead but had a double bogey on the second hole and never recovered with just one birdie the rest of the day. He finished with a 74 and tied for 10th, six shots behind.
