REITAN SECURES MAIDEN PGA TOUR WIN, MCILROY TIED 19TH
Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan after winning the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow on the PGA Tour (Photo: PGA Tour)
Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan claimed his maiden PGA Tour in the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow where Masters champion Rory McIlroy finished in a tie for 19th.
Reitan finished on 15-under-par to secure a two-shot win over Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard in one of the strongest signature-event fields of the season. McIlroy never got close enough to threaten the lead but had plenty of attention as a four-time champion at Quail Hollow.
“I don’t have any words, to be honest,” said Reitan after his round. “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 World Tour card helped him gain perspective.
“It helped me find my game again. 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.”
England’s Alex Fitzpatrick was the third-round leader but finished three shots back after a closing 73.
An inconsistent week prevented McIlroy from mounting a serious title challenge and eventually finished tied for 19th at five-under-par. The Holywood man’s tournament had moments of promise and frustration. A difficult third-round 75 was followed with a closing 67 to climb 18 places up the leaderboard as he focuses on the PGA Championship, the second Major of the season.
McIlroy said he was battling technical issues with his swing. “My bad habit” was how he described his tendency to pull shots left, although he believed he had started to correct the problem during an extended range session after Saturday’s round.
The Northern Irishman also appeared to be limping during the tournament but later said the issue was caused by a blister under the nail and dismissed suggestions that the injury affected his play.