To Kristoffer Reitan, all these it was unexpected.
Standing on the 18th green at Quail Hollow Club, having just edged Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick to win Truist Championshipa signature event of the PGA Tour, it was difficult for Reitan to sum up a career-changing victory, one that fits perfectly with his unique golf journey.
It wasn’t long ago that the Norwegian turned down the clubs. Golf no longer brought him happiness, only despair. With the spark that had brought him so much joy fading, Reitan considered his next move. He considered venturing into the golf waters of YouTube or perhaps quitting golf altogether. Then, a few months later, Reitan discovered that the spark hadn’t gone; it just needed to heat up. He took the clubs when he wanted, at his own pace. He played with his friends and hit the shots he wanted, when he wanted; love returned.
He went from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour and then, a year ago at the Soudal Open, lightning struck and everything changed. Reitan started that Sunday nine shots off the lead. But he made nine birdies in his final 15 holes to shoot a course record 62 and eventually wins in a playoff.
“I don’t know what to say,” said a stunned Reitan that day in Belgium. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I keep thinking back to a few years ago when I thought I’d stop playing because I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, I wasn’t seeing progress and to be able to turn it around the way I’ve done these last couple of years has been amazing – to seal it with a win here is ridiculous.”
That victory and another that followed helped him secure a PGA Tour card. Then came another climb. He got off to a slow start this season as a rookie, but his game has clicked over the last month. Then, last week, the unexpected happened again as Reitan entered the Cadillac Championship due to Jake Knapp’s withdrawal Thursday morning. He entered the race at Doral but faded on Sunday. As he finished his final hole in Miami, Reitan didn’t think he’d make the field this week in Charlotte. Despite a double bogey on his final hole, Reitan cracked the Truist course and made the most of an unlikely chain of events.
A week later, he had surpassed the best in the world and reached a place he was a long way from when he closed his clubs in 2022.
“I’m speechless, to be honest,” Reitan said after his win. “This is so much more than I expected and for it to happen so quickly is just unreal. Yes, a dream come true.”
Reitan said he considered becoming a YouTube golfer to try and bring back the “fun competition”. He was thinking about what path to take in life and what role golf would play in that path. In the end, what he found was something to take with him on the long road that led to his breakthrough moment in Quail Hollow.
“So I was just trying to find ways to make it more fun to give some energy to my golf journey and trying to have fun while I’m playing so I can endure the hardships that come with, yeah, professional golf,” Reitan said.
“It helped me find my game again. It helped me rediscover my talents,” Reitan told CBS’s Amanda Balionis. “Yeah, that was something really important to me that I try to remind myself of every day. So it was definitely a big thing for me to come back and start playing good golf again.”
The 28-year-old Norwegian began his ascent in the lower ranks of the European Tour. That was necessary to become the kind of golfer who could tame Quail Hollow and a course among the best in the world. Since retrieving his clubs and committing to professional golf, Reitan has always believed that it was possible, that he could thrive at the highest level. Everything just had to come together, brick by brick.
“I think there are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place,” Reitan said. “There’s a whole puzzle that needs to be put together eventually. I think I’ve made some strides in a lot of areas of the game, but definitely a big one for sure is the belief that I can do it. And I knew I could do it here on the PGA Tour.”
But as lost for words after his improbable comeback victory in Belgium, Kristoffer Reitan was stunned by the speed of his ascent.
When he hit the winning putt to go into the final round, a 2-under 69 that saw him overtake Fitzpatrick and hold off Fowler and Nicolai Hojgaard, Reitan’s emotions did not get the better of him. He brought his hand to his mouth and rubbed his face. Afterward, he smiled, hugged Fitzpatrick and his corpse, and indulged in a moment years in the making — one that began with a YouTube golf game and ended Sunday with a surprise victory.
Beloved Kristoffer Reitan always believed it would come, even when he couldn’t see it.
“Absolutely over the moon. It happened a lot faster than I would have imagined,” Reitan said. “Just absolutely thrilled. Wonderful, wonderful experience. Very, very grateful.”
