Rookie Kristoffer Reitan Emerges to Win Truist Championship For Maiden PGA Tour Title

In 2012, Rickie Fowler became a household name after emerging victorious in a playoff at Quail Hollow for his maiden PGA Tour win.

Fourteen years later, he was aiming to end a three-year winless drought on those very same greens at the Truist Championship. However, he would bogey the 18th hole, the hardest hole on the course, and leave the door open for someone else to have their coming-out party, as Fowler did over a decade ago.

The question was who would it be: Kristoffer Reitan, Alex Fitzpatrick or Nicolai Højgaard?

One of them, though, would have to tackle Quail’s diabolical final three-hole stretch, known as the Green Mile.

Reitan, a rookie, would be that one, claiming a two-stroke victory at the $20 million signature event. The 28-year-old is now the second Norwegian to ever win on the PGA Tour, joining Viktor Hovland.

“I don’t have any words, to be honest,” Reitan said on 18th green afterward. “This is way more than I expected and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal. Yeah, a dream come true.”

Kristoffer Reitan's first career victory! 🏆 🇳🇴

He's just the second player from Norway to win on the PGA TOUR, joining Viktor Hovland. pic.twitter.com/TuJ88pYOFE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 10, 2026

As Fowler bogeyed the last, Reitan, several groups behind, birdied the drivable par-4 14th, despite hitting his tee shot into the greenside bunker. Then, he added another birdie on the par-5 15th.

Fitzpatrick, an Englishman who won the Zurich Classic with his brother, Matt, and earned a spot in the field—and a Tour card—with that victory, struggled with his putter all afternoon, losing over two strokes on the greens. Still, he had a shot at the title, but those hopes were dashed with a double on the par-3 17th, where he missed the green with his tee shot and failed to successfully chip on the putting surface afterward.

“I’m disappointed not to have won,” Fitzpatrick said after a final-round 73, finishing solo fourth, “but I’m also really proud of myself for how I battled out there. I was 3-over through [three holes] and then in my head I’m thinking ‘I could shoot 81 here.’ So, yeah, I felt like I was super happy that I was very patient.”

Nicolai Højgaard, a Danish European Ryder Cupper who has won on the DP World Tour, also had a chance to enter the winner’s circle, but bogeyed the par-4 16th, flying the green with his second shot. He shot 68 on Sunday.

And for Fowler, meanwhile, this was a step in the right direction, with his fourth top 10 of the season in a signature event.

“Obviously now, bummed not to be in a position to at least maybe to be in a playoff or having a chance to win,” said Fowler, who shot a final-round 65, finishing T2 with Højgaard. “But at the same time, if you would have told me at seven back that I was going to be out front and have a chance to pose, yeah, a lot of really good stuff this week, especially with being a little under the weather.”

Reitan’s moment had been coming, though. He earned a spot in the Masters after winning in South Africa on the DPWT in December. He made the cut in Augusta and a few weeks later, finished runner-up at the Zurich Classic. That helped him get into last week’s Cadillac Championship as the first alternate, and he was in a position to win there, too, tied for second entering the final round. But he ultimately finished T14 and barely got into the field this week with that result.

Fast forward to the 72nd hole at Quail, and he didn’t even know how much he was leading by. But it didn’t matter. He safely parred the last, capping a final-round 69 to finish at 15 under.

And there he was, standing on Quail’s 18th as a PGA Tour winner for the first time, just as Fowler—and Rory McIlroy, for the record—once did.

Look at what they’ve been able to achieve in their careers. Will Reitan follow suit?

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