Kristoffer Reitan is used to fellow Norwegian Viktor Hovland hogging the limelight, but yesterday was his day as he feasted on the feared Gary Player Country Club course, collecting 10 birdies on his way to an exceptional 63 and a three-shot lead after the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Hovland is the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No 13 and has been a top-10 player since 2021, so he has obviously attracted most of the attention in the build-up to Africa’s Major. The 28-year-old shot a tidy three-under-par 69 on Thursday, a good finish, with birdies on the 14th and 16th holes, lifting him into a tie for 11th.
But Reitan is one of the most improved players in the world, having taken his world ranking from 617, when he won the Challenge Tour Grand Final in November 2024, to the heights of No 59 heading into this $6m tournament.
He claimed his maiden DP World Tour win at the Soudal Open in May, shooting a 62 to make up a nine-stroke deficit in the final round. Other than that, he was extremely consistent, with six top-five finishes and a second place at the Austrian Alpine Open, when he shot 60 on the last day. That helped him to eighth place in the final Race to Dubai standings.
Read: South Africans aim to end Nedbank Golf Challenge drought
The talented 27-year-old was on fire again on Thursday, with five birdies on each nine, his only blemish being a bogey on the tricky 17th hole when he found a fairway bunker off the tee, and his second shot ricocheted off the lip.
“I’m used to all the attention being on Viktor and that’s the way it should be because he has played some unbelievable golf ever since his last year as an amateur. But it was a very good day for me, I hit the ball well off the tee, I was fairly good with my approaches, especially some wedge shots, and I controlled my putter well,” Reitan said.
“The 17th is tricky and it showed that if you don’t hit a good shot then this course will bite your backside. You have to stay on top of it the whole time. It’s a tough course, but if you hit the ball well then there are opportunities and it was nice to finish with a birdie.
“I was just trying to hit good shot after good shot. I’ve worked hard on my approaches, so it’s good to see improvement there. The next three days are going to be about keeping the quality and the concentration high, but even then there are no guarantees,” Reitan said.
Englishman Marcus Armitage had earlier reached eight-under-par but then double-bogeyed his last hole, the par-five ninth, to finish on six-under 66. An entertaining character, Armitage said he was okay with what had transpired.
“I made a lot of birdies and had fun out there. I’ve just come off three days in Dubai working on a new downswing and it worked for 17 holes today. The last hole, just when you think you have this course sussed, it bites you. But it was still a good day,” Armitage said.
Jesper Svensson and Adrien Saddier later joined him on six-under-par.
South Africans Shaun Norris and Garrick Higgo could also be content with their day as they shot 68s to be in the tie for fifth place.
Norris did well to come back from a double-bogey at the second hole and was four-under for the back nine.
“The course is very demanding from the tee all the time and I had a little mishap on the second. But I was able to claw it back and I’m very happy with a 68, you’re always smiling around here with that score. I stuck to my guns and was pretty aggressive,” Norris said.
Higgo went bogey-free and also did the bulk of his scoring on the back nine, with three birdies.
“It was a good day and my ball-striking was pretty good. I’ve been working on that and I know if I can keep that up, hit fairways and greens, then I’ll be okay. It all starts off the tee here, if you hit a lot of fairways then you can get momentum. But the greens are also pretty tricky, with a lot of slopes,” Higgo said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.