Kristoffer Reitan described his maiden PGA TOUR title as “a dream come true” as he won the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.
The Norwegian began the final round one-shot adrift of England’s Alex Fitzpatrick, but he carded a closing two-under-par 69 on Sunday to seal a two-shot win over Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard.
Twice a winner on the DP World Tour last year, Reitan is in his rookie season stateside after finishing eighth on the Race to Dubai rankings to earn his rookie campaign stateside.
Making his 12th PGA TOUR start and 15th overall, the 28-year-old came into the Signature Event on the back of two top-15 finishes either side of his Masters debut last month.
Reitan is the second player from Norway after Viktor Hovland to win on the PGA TOUR and claimed $3.6m for the top prize.
“I don’t have any words, to be honest,” said Reitan, who is the second player from Norway to win on the PGA Tour after Viktor Hovland, who has chalked up seven wins on the US circuit since 2020. “This is way more than I expected and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal. Just dream come true.”
Reitan only got into the field for the $20m event by virtue of his performances during the Aon Swing 5. He will now head into his PGA Championship debut at Aronimink Golf Club this week at a career-high 25th in the world ranking.
While his career is firmly on an upward trajectory, having earned promotion to the DP World Tour from the HotelPlanner Tour at the end of 2024, Reitan admitted time away from the game in 2022 when he contemplated making a career from YouTube golf helped him gain perspective.
“It helped me find my game again,” he 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.”
It was a strong week for European golf, with Højgaard just falling short in his bid to become the first Dane to win on the PGA TOUR and the in-form Fitzpatrick finishing fourth, three shots back, in just his second PGA TOUR start since winning with his brother Matt at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Kristoffer Reitan WITB
Driver: PING G440 K (11°)
Fairway woods: PING G440 Max (3-wood, 15°; 7-wood, 21 degrees)
Irons: PING Blueprint S (4-9)
Wedges: PING S259 (46°, 50°, 54°, 58°)
Putter: PING PLD Custom Ally Blue H
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Apparel: Original Penguin
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