With one round to play of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, Kristoffer Reitan held a commanding five-shot lead as he closed in on his second DP World Tour title.
Despite that, his final round was never likely to go entirely smoothly, particularly with the near inevitability of nerves playing a role as he approached the finish line.
That proved to be the case as he eventually edged home by one with Jayden Schaper and Dan Bradbury breathing down his neck.
The signs that, despite the Norwegian’s vice-like grip on the leaderboard, there would still be drama at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City came at the 18th the previous day.
There, Reitan blotted his copybook with a double-bogey in an otherwise spectacular round of 67 that included five birdies and an eagle.
It’s possible that when a potential seven-shot lead became five, it preyed on Reitan’s mind overnight, and if that were the case, it was immediately evident as he bogeyed the first and third on Sunday, albeit with a birdie in between to settle him down.
His erratic front nine continued with another birdie at the fifth, followed by a bogey at the seventh, as his lead was reduced to two, with Schaper his nearest rival.
It got better for Reitan with successive birdies at the eighth and ninth, not that he could quite get away from his challengers.
Reitan’s three-shot buffer was reduced to two when Schaper made his fourth birdie of the day at the 12th, while Bradbury was also in stunning form at five under for the day following a birdie at the 11th to remain firmly in the running.
With Schaper and Bradbury clearly relishing the challenge of catching Reitan, the leader had a run of pars before his fourth bogey of the day at the 15th reduced his advantage to just one at 17 under.
However, frustratingly for the challengers, neither could add to their birdie tallies, while Reitan held his nerve with three more pars to close out his round and edge home by one for a wire-to-wire victory.
Following his win, Reitan admitted nerves had been a factor, saying: “I had a lot of nerves today, but to get it over the line is a better feeling than I can describe. I’m trying my best to deal with nervousness, fear. It’s really, really difficult.”
He also admitted the commanding lead had played a part, adding: “It is difficult, really difficult. I haven’t been in this situation before, at least in my pro career. I’ve been feeling nerves all week, to be honest, but it just kept getting increasingly more.”
“These two guys, Dan Bradbury and Jayden, they played so well today, they kept pushing me, but I’m just really glad I was able to keep them at arm's length.”
The win caps a remarkable year for Reitan, who only earned his DP World Tour card after winning the 2024 Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final to finish seventh in the rankings.
His maiden DP World Tour title came at May’s Soudal Open, before clinching his PGA Tour card in November thanks to his position in the Race to Dubai rankings.
With a second DP World Tour title secured, he will surely head to the US-based circuit with plenty of confidence as his career goes from strength to strength.
