Norway's Kristoffer Reitan earns 2-shot win at Truist Championship for first PGA Tour victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kristoffer Reitan was not having much fun early in his career on the DP World Tour, and he began contemplating the idea of leaving competitive golf to become a YouTube golfer.

He never followed through, instead sticking with his goal of winning tournaments.

He's glad he did.

The 28-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Norway shot 2-under 69 on Sunday to earn a two-shot win over Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Hojgaard at the Truist Championship for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Reitan, who chose golf over soccer at a young age, won twice previously on the European Tour but this week proved to be his breakthrough moment. He finished at 15-under 269.

“I don’t have any words, to be honest,” Reitan said. “This is way more than I expected and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal. Yeah, a dream come true.”

Reitan said stepping away from the game for a bit after losing his DP Tour card helped him gain perspective.

“It helped me find my game again,” Reitan said. “It helped me discover my talents again. Yeah, that was something really important to me, which I try to remind myself of every single day. So that was definitely a huge thing for me getting back and starting to play some good golf again.”

Alex Fitzpatrick, the third-round leader, finished three shots back after shooting 73.

Reitan started the round one shot behind Fitzpatrick, but was even par for the day after 13 holes and one shot behind Fowler, who had surged to the lead after shooting 30 on the front nine.

“The first nine was ‘let’s go have a good day,’ and back nine was, ‘hey, we actually are in a spot where we can go win this,’” Fowler said.

But Fowler, who started the day seven shots behind, couldn’t sustain the momentum.

Playing four groups ahead of the leaders, Fowler missed a 6-foot birdie putt on 16, opening the door for Reitan, Fitzpatrick, and Hojgaard to pull into a four-way tie for the lead after all three made birdie.

Reitan took the lead for good when he hit his iron on the par-5 15th onto the green and two-putted for birdie.

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick’s wedge got caught up in the thick rough and his chip barely made the fringe, leading to a par and dropping him back one shot.

Hojgaard made bogey on 16 to fall two back.

Fowler’s chances ended when his approach shot on the 18th hole landed in the deep rough on the left side of the green and his chip came out short leading to bogey. He finished with a round of 65.

Fitzpatrick was the last man standing in Reitan's way, but he faltered again on 17 as his chip from the deep rough never made the green and he made double bogey.

Reitan played the final three holes of the Green Mile in even par and secured the win with a par on 18.

Reitan’s best previous finish was a tie for second last month at the Zurich Classic when he and playing partner Kris Ventura lost by one stroke to Fitzpatrick and his brother, Matt.

When he was young, Reitan had two loves — soccer and golf.

He realized pretty quickly he was better at golf, and his parents would take him to Spain every Christmas to give him a place to practice. On Sunday, he thanked them for making that investment in him.

“They have made golf a very, very high priority in our household,” Reitan said. “They have definitely made a great, great effort to at least help me get to the place I am today and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

It was a disappointing day for Cameron Young, the world's No. 3 player.

Looking for his second straight PGA win after a victory last week at Doral, Young started the day just two shots off the lead but had a double bogey on the second hole and never recovered with just one birdie the rest of the day.

He finished with a 74 and tied for 10th, six shots behind.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Rickie Fowler walks on the 15th hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kristoffer Reitan, of Norway, reacts after a putt on the second hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kristoffer Reitan, of Norway, chips on to the green on the fifth hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kristoffer Reitan, of Norway, waves after a birdie on the 15th hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and the New York Knicks are back in the Eastern Conference finals, tying the NBA postseason record with 25 3-pointers in front of a raucous crowd rooting for the road team and rolling past the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 on Sunday to sweep the second-round series.

Deuce McBride started in place of the injured OG Anunoby and hit seven 3-pointers, going 4 for 4 in the first quarter when the Knicks had another record with 11, and scored 25 points. Brunson had 22 points and Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 17 in the Knicks' latest lopsided playoff victory.

The Knicks' 19.4 point-per-game margin of victory is the largest through two rounds since the playoffs went to 16 teams in 1984.

“It's just us being very locked in to the moment,” Towns said.

The Knicks advanced to the East finals for the second straight season and will play the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit series. The Pistons lead 2-1.

The Knicks last season reached the conference finals for the first time in 25 years before losing to Indiana. The Knicks then fired coach Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with Mike Brown, who has guided them to seven straight playoff wins, starting with the last three games against Atlanta.

“Our guys tried to take it to another level with their focus on the details and their energy and effort level,” Brown said. “That's a lot of the reason why we're playing pretty good basketball.”

Knicks fans made a habit of scooping up tickets by the thousands at the Sixers' arena for playoffs games over the years, and in Game 4, they may have made the loudest statement yet. They raised brooms outside the arena and waved “Always Knicks” towels once inside, all while noisily neutering the few Sixers fans that didn't make a few extra bucks on the secondary market and stuck around.

The 76ers' franchise failed to stop Knicks fans in their effort to buy tickets.

The 76ers were greater failures in trying to stop the Knicks on the floor.

Game 4 was a laugher from the tip, with the Knicks using the 3-point arc as a starting point for their personal pop-a-shot game.

With Knicks fans on their feet and exclaiming “Deuuuce," McBride hit one, two, three, four — four! — 3-pointers in succession for a 20-6 lead and the Sixers were already on their heels. McBride became the first Knick (since play-by-play tracking began in 1997) to hit four 3s in the first quarter of a playoff game.

New York's 3-point records were just heating up.

Brunson added two in the period (six total) to help make the Knicks 11 of 13, which tied the NBA mark for most makes in a quarter.

The Knicks totaled 18 3s in the first half to score 54 points off the long ball, compared to 57 total for the 76ers. Overall, that was an 81-57 lead and helped power the Knicks toward their first best-of-seven series sweep since the 1999 East semis against Atlanta.

The Knicks scored 80-plus points in the first half twice in five road playoff games this season.

The second half was a mere formality, and the Sixers are headed home after a gutsy 3-1 series comeback to beat Boston in the first round.

“The energy was a big gap between their energy and our energy, I thought," Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.

Joel Embiid ended another injury-riddled season with 24 points, Tyrese Maxey had 17 and the Sixers still have not advanced out of the second round since 2001.

“I came into this year not knowing where I was going to be (with health), how long I was going to play, if I was even going to play based on how the knee was the last few years,” Embiid said. “I came in just hoping for the best and I feel like we're in a position where we figured out the knee. It hasn't been an issue.”

Towns had 10 assists. Hart hit four 3-pointers and celebrated by stripping off his jersey and tossing it to a woman in Sixers gear.

“My right hand remembered that the goal was to make 3s,” Hart said. “Happy to have her back.”

If the sweep and the Knicks' fan takeover didn't saddle the Sixers with enough bad news, there was one final cutting blow to the ego — Philadelphia's two first-round 2018 draft picks are still playing: Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet, of course, for the Knicks.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns, from left, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid during the first half of Game 4 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' fans cheer during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' fans hold up a photo as Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid takes a free-throw shot during the first half of Game 4 against the New York Knicks in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Miles McBride, left, and Jalen Brunson celebrate during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Miles McBride, left, and Jalen Brunson celebrate during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)