Exclusive: who is the DP World Tour’s new record-breaking scoring sensation Kristoffer Reitan?

Matt Cooper 05 Jun 2025

He’s the hottest golfer in Europe right now, but he’s also one of the least well-known.

In fact, back in the middle of April Kristoffer Reitan had never finished in the top three on the DP World Tour but just a few weeks later he’s played four times, winning once and twice finishing runner-up.

Even more extraordinary is his back-to-back Sunday scoring.

He won the Soudal Open with a 62 and seven days later added a 60 in the Austrian Alpine Open.

But who is this phenomenon?

Golf365 spoke to the 27-year-old Norwegian after his 60 at Gut Altentann in Salzburg to find out more.

Okay, he’s Norwegian so does he know Viktor Hovland?

Better than that – the two played together in amateur golf and remain good friends.

In fact, Reitan added: “Viktor has helped me go to the States to practice so he’s been part of the reason I’ve got better.”

What is Reitan’s background?

He first played on the DP World Tour in 2019, making seven top 25 finishes. But just the one top 10 meant that he lost his card and in his limited starts since he showed very few signs of this explosion of form.

How did he cope with the lows?

In terms of finance, not too bad because his family own Reitan Retail which is a leading company in the Nordic and Baltic countries. They’re essentially supermarket tycoons.

One of his top 25s in 2019 was at Valderrama and his family are members there. Scandinavian golf journalists say that they fly a private jet down to the south of Spain for 18 holes.

Was there a low point?

He might have no financial concerns but his form was a big worry. With almost no playing opportunities in 2022 he considered giving up the tour life and starting a YouTube golf channel.

“I wasn’t enjoying it and making no progress,” he said.

What changed?

Towards the end of last year he spoke to his team and made a change. It prompted a quick result in the shape of victory in the Challenge Tour Grand Final and with it graduation to the main tour.

“I’ve just been trying to not hold myself back and let my talent out a little bit,” he said. “That’s what me and my psychologist talked about and it has been working.”

And when did he catch fire on the main tour?

Through the first 12 starts he had just one top 20 finish. He was driving the ball well, regularly ranking top 20 for Strokes Gained Off the Tee, but not holing putts.

That has all changed in the last few weeks.

He was second in the Hainan Classic when ranking fifth for Putting.

He had the same Putting rank when T33 in the Turkish Airlines Open and he ranked fourth with the flat stick when second in Austria.

Oddly he was only 28th for Putting when winning in Belgium.

What about those two shoot-the-lights out Sundays?

Just extraordinary.

He was T22nd and nine shots back of the lead in Belgium. His 62 forced a three-man play-off which he won.

Then he was T14th and eight back last week before thrashing a 60. He even had a 25-foot eagle putt on the last for a 59.

“I had a good feeling this morning,” he said afterwards. “The 59 was in the back of my mind a little bit but I was just trying to make as many birdies as possible.”

Shooting 62-60 over two Sundays – amazing!

The DP World Tour said that he would have been the first golfer to ever win in back-to-back weeks with scores of 62 or better.

Since 1972 only 13 players had won from eight or more shots back with 18 holes to play (0.63% of all events).

And Reitan very nearly did it back-to-back!

In those 36 holes he made 20 birdies (56%) and one bogey. He was 19-under.

How did he react after the first win?

“It was difficult at the start of the week,” he admitted. “Kind of needed to reset a little bit. I found that very difficult but I wanted to be proactive with my mental strategies.

“My goal for this week was to put in a shift no matter what the result was because I figured last week’s win wasn’t going to help me.

“I didn’t do it perfectly in the first couple of days, but I improved at the weekend.

“I was really on it today with the 60. It was a good feeling.”

What comes next?

He’s looking forward to playing the same events as his friend Hovland. But he’s also wary.

“This is all great for confidence but I can’t lean on it and think that I don’t need to work hard any more. I was afraid of thinking like that. That’s a potential trap I’m hoping to avoid.”