Truist Championship: Kristoffer Reitan claims his first PGA Tour title as Alex Fitzpatrick fades having held overnight lead
Kristoffer Reitan clinches maiden PGA Tour win after emerging from thrilling final-day battle; overnight leader Alex Fitzpatrick falls short of first win after double bogey at second last while Tommy Fleetwood also finishes in top 10
Monday 11 May 2026 00:21, UK
Kristoffer Reitan secured the first PGA Tour victory of his career on Sunday night, as the Norwegian pipped Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard to victory at the Truist Championship by two shots.
Alex Fitzpatrick, who was featuring in only his second event since winning his PGA Tour card at last month's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, had held a one-shot lead coming into the final day but struggled to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard, and a double bogey on 17 saw him drop back to post a final score of 12-under par, and end his week at T4.
Reitan's rise to the PGA Tour has been meteoric. Only three years ago, the 28-year-old had been struggling to keep his card on the Hotel Planner Tour - the DP World Tour's feeder circuit.
On Sunday, he outlasted a pack of players in attritional conditions at Quail Hollow Club, surging into the lead with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes to post a final round of 69 and finish at 15-under par.
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"A tremendous amount of relief and joy," Reitan said. "I can't put it into words, to be honest. Even today, I wasn't quite expecting to walk away with the win, even though I was in a good position before today.
"I feel like it will happen if it happens. My only goal today was to free it up as much as I can to allow myself the chance to hit good shots. I'm so glad that I kept that focus the whole way through. I'm struggling to describe how I'm feeling right now.
"I love this place, it's absolutely fantastic. I love the fact that it demands so much from your game, a historic venue. I'm super pleased to be walking away as the champion."
After winning the PGA Tour's sixth Signature Event of the 2026 season, Reitan will walk away with a cash prize of $3.6m (£2.65m) as well as 700 FedExCup points.
Fitzpatrick: "It's still very surreal"
Fitzpatrick got off to a bumpy start, going three-over through his first three holes, with a bogey on the second and a double bogey on the third.
The Englishman bounced back after the turn, making three birdies in four holes, but came unstuck on the par-three 17th, the second-hardest hole on the course this week, missing the green before failing to putt out for par. He wrapped up his round with a par on hole 18, to finish his week at 12-under par.
"It's still very surreal," Fitzpatrick, who is projected to move up 17 places in the FedExCup standings to 22nd. "I still haven't woken up, which I think is a good thing! I feel like it's crazy to be disappointed, but somehow I'm a little disappointed."
It has been a huge year for the Fitzpatrick brothers, with Alex having won his first DP World Tour event at the Hero Indian Open in March before going on to claim his first PGA Tour title alongside his brother Matt, who ended his week at the Truist Championship at one-over par, tied for 52nd place.
"I felt like I didn't play that bad, I got off to a slow start and kind of got unlucky with a few breaks," Alex said on his week.
"That's the game and I'm happy to see [Reitan] win. He played really, really well today and hopefully mine is another time."
Fowler gutted to not claim victory
Fowler had been out to win his first PGA Tour victory since 2023 and had been tied for the lead through 17 holes at 14-under par alongside Fitzpatrick and Reitan. The American chipped onto the 18th green to leave himself a 12ft putt for par, but agonisingly slid the shot wide, to fall back to 13-under alongside Højgaard.
The Dane also became a victim of Quail Hollow's 'Green Mile' - the final three holes on the course - after he airmailed the green on hole 16 before going on to make bogey.
Speaking after wrapping up his round, Fowler said: "Obviously, now bummed not to be in a position to at least maybe to be in a playoff or having a chance to win.
"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 and kind of starting a little behind and putting together a nice round of golf on Friday, not moving back yesterday, and then having a solid day today."
Fowler will turn his attention to the PGA Championship at Aronimink next week. His game is trending in the right direction, having finished inside the top-10 in his last three starts, all of which were Signature Events.
"A lot of good stuff and definitely happy with where the game's been, how it's been progressing, and obviously where we are right now," Fowler said.
McIlroy struggles at happy hunting ground of Quail Hollow
Rory McIlroy returned to PGA Tour action this week at his happy hunting ground of Quail Hollow. The Northern Irishman, who has taken four weeks off since he successfully defended his Masters title in April, has won here four times in the past, but after moving to four-under par through 32 holes, McIlroy endured a difficult third round, posting a four-over par 75.
He battled back on Sunday, posting a four-under par 67, but would ultimately finish his week T19, admitting that he spent a "good bit of time" on the range after a poor round on Saturday, to try and correct his swing.
"I got off to a good start, but I hit the ball better," McIlroy said after his final round. "I started to hit it left yesterday with everything. I spent a good bit of time on the range last night just trying to straighten it out.
"The range this week, the wind is predominantly been off the left, so I think when you hit a lot of balls in a left-to-right wind you start to aim a little bit left, your club face can get a little bit closed at impact just to try to counteract that wind. So, hitting balls the last five or six days in that left-to-right wind on the range I just started to miss some left on the course.
"So, I was trying to figure it out a little bit on the range last night, which I felt like I did, and I hit the ball much better today."
Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood bounced back from an indifferent few weeks on the PGA Tour to post his first top-10 finish since the Players Championship in March.
He ended his week with a final-round score of 69 to move to T5 on the leaderboard at 11-under, with bogeys on 11 and 16 proving costly.
Harry Hall was another who had issues on the Green Mile, posting bogeys on 16 and 17 to wrap up his week at 10-under par.
What's next?
The men's major season continues this week with the PGA Championship, as Scottie Scheffler returns as defending champion and chasing a fifth major in as many seasons. Live coverage from Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania begins on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf.
The next regular PGA Tour event is The CJ Cup Byron Nelson from May 21-24, where Scheffler also defends. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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