Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan came back from a nine-shot deficit to collect a first title on the DP World Tour with a play-off victory at the Soudal Open.
The Norwegian, ranked 278 in the world, began the final day at Rinkven International Golf Club 23rd on the standings, trailing overnight leader Ferguson by nine shots. However, the 27-year-old produced a stunning final-round display which featured 10 birdies on his way to breaking the course record with a sublime 62 and posting a clubhouse target on 13 under.
He had to wait almost three hours to witness the final group, including Ferguson, tee off. The Scotsman looked to be on the verge of his fourth DP World Tour victory after entering the last with a shot advantage. But his par putt crucially lipped out causing him to bogey the hole and force the play-off which also included Netherland’s Darius van Driel who sunk an impressive long-range birdie on the same hole.
The trio, all tied on 13 under, returned to the 18th for the play-off and after they all par putted on their first attempts, on the second occasion, it was Reitan who came out on top when he sunk his 15-foot birdie after both Ferguson and van Driel failed to convert their putts cementing a maiden DP World Tour triumph for the Norwegian.
“I don’t know what to say, its been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” said Reitan.
“I keep thinking back to a few years ago when I was considering stopping playing because I didn’t find it enjoyable anymore, didn’t see progress, and to be able to turn it around the way I have been doing the last couple of years has been amazing – to seal it with victory here is ridiculous.
“(Winning) wasn’t even on my mind. I just wanted to play a good round of golf, been working hard on trying to stick to my process recently. Obviously today I felt like it was a little bit my day and that was evident at the end… I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Behind the trio, there was a five-way tied for fourth including English pair Jordan Smith and John Perry, America’s Troy Merritt, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and China’s Haotong Li all of whom ended the tournament on 10 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour schedule is the Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand taking place between May 29 – June 1 at Gut Altentann GC in Austria.