Norway's Kristoffer Reitan earns
2-shot win at Truist Championship for first PGA Tour victory
[May 11, 2026]
By STEVE REED
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — 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
Hojgaard 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 European 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 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 16, opening the door for Reitan, Fitzpatrick, and
Hojgaard 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.
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Kristoffer Reitan, of Norway, waves after a birdie on the 15th hole
during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at
the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP
Photo/Chris Carlson)
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.
Hojgaard made bogey on 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 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 18.
Reitan’s best previous finish was a tie for second last month at the
Zurich Classic 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 win after a victory last week at
Doral, 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.
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