Kristoffer Reitan held off playing partners Jayden Schaper and Golf News columnist Dan Bradbury on a nerve-shredding final day of the 2026 Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player to secure his second DP World Tour title.
Reitan began the day with a commanding five-shot lead but left the door wide open for the chasing pack as he struggled for consistency.
The Norwegian mixed four birdies with three bogeys on the front nine to hold a four-shot lead at the turn but, as he parred the first five holes of the back nine, Schaper and Bradbury closed the gap to two.
Reitan piled further pressure on himself as he bogeyed the 15th to sit just one clear but managed to hang in there, parring his way home to close out a wire-to-wire victory by one shot.
His level-par 71 saw Reitan finish the tournament on 17 under par, one clear of home favourite Schaper and Englishman Bradbury.
Reitan made a shaky start on Sunday morning as he bogeyed the first but got the shot back from close range on the second.
Another bogey followed at the third before he rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt on the fifth to lead by three shots on 17 under.
Having been unable to save par on the short seventh, Reitan bounced back with a long-range birdie at the eighth before making another from close range on the ninth to turn in 35.
But as Reitan fought hard to avoid dropping shots on the back nine, Schaper and Bradbury found the birdies they required to eat into his lead.
And when Reitan bogeyed the 15th after failing to get out of the rough with his third shot, the chasing pair were just one back.
But Reitan regained his composure and parred each of the final three holes to keep his playing partners at bay and add a second DP World Tour crown to the one he won at the Soudal Open in May.
He said: “I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. I had a lot of nerves today.
“But to get it over the line in the end is a better feeling than I can describe.
“I’m trying my best to deal with nervousness, fear. It’s really, really difficult. I’ve managed to do that really well ever since mid-season last year.
“It just keeps getting increasingly more difficult, but I’m glad to have dealt with it in a good way and get this over the line. That means so much. I’m so pleased.
“I’ve been feeling nervous all week, to be honest, but it just kept getting increasingly more. And today was a different story.
“You can maybe tell on some of the shots that I hit as well.
“I’m just really glad to get it over the line and to get the courage to hit the shots that I needed to hit down the stretch here especially.”
Reitan has enjoyed a stellar 2025, earning dual membership with the PGA TOUR after a season in which he won his maiden DP World Tour title in Belgium.
He added: “I’m very proud of myself. Very proud of my whole team as well. I’m very demanding and they help me out the best that they can. Just ask my caddie!
“But yeah, I’m definitely proud of myself and I’m happy to be able to say that.”
