Kristoffer

Reitan

A scintillating tournament debut for the Norwegian on the Old Course and he took full toll of the perfect conditions. Opening on the back nine he waited a while to catch fire, but then ticked the 13th and 14th before playing the famous 17th and 18th for the first time as a professional golfer – and doing it in stunning style, making birdie at both. He didn’t stop either, turning round and adding a red number at the first as well. He erred at the fourth, but bounced right back with birdies at the fifth, sixth and ninth. He plays Kingsbarns in round two and will start the day two behind the early pace setter Justin Walters.

The Norwegian youngster is 4-for-11 in his rookie season on the European Tour and that explains his ranking of 134th in the Race to Dubai. But there is a little hope ahead of this week. The first comes in his best result, when T5 in the World Super 6 Perth, a format somewhat similar to this week. The second is in his T14 at the Trophee Hassan II a few weeks ago and then he did start nicely with a 69 last week before missing the weekend after a Friday 75. His only Strokes Gained stat ranking under 100 this season is Off the Tee, helped by an average Driving Distance of 310.30 yards which places him 26th against his peers.

His effort left him just two swings behind pace-setters David Lipsky and Sean Crocker heading into the weekend in Rabat, Morocco. He made two birdies on each nine, at the third and fifth on the front nine, then the tenth and 16th on the way home. But he couldn’t keep the mistakes off his card, scratching bogeys at the fourth and 13th, whilst he stumbled to a double bogey-5 at the near-island green ninth (he is already 3-over for the hole this week having found water twice). He is 4-for-8 this season, his rookie campaign, with just the one top 40 finish, when T5 at the World Super 6 Perth. Ranked 135th on the Race to Dubai, he needs to take advantage of this weekend’s opportunity to garner points.

An eventful opening lap at Royal Dar Es Salam puts the Norwegian youngster in tied seventh spot and four off the lead held by Jordan Smith. The Q School grad made four birdies on his opening nine, ticking 11, 12, 15 and 17 along with bogey-5 at 13. He got it back to 4-under with a gain at 4 and made another circle at 8 but also swallowed bogeys at 6 and 9. He’ll play in the second group out from the 1st tee Friday morning so has the opportunity to post a score and get himself in a nice position going into the weekend.

The Q School grad, who only turned pro after gaining his card, had started his week with a 65 to share first place. He followed it with a 77, dropping to T37 and looking unlikely to gain one of the 24 matchplay spots for Sunday with his momentum now gone. Instead, he turned it around completely, firing his second 65 of the week to go through comfortably and even grab one of the top eight seedings which gets him a bye into the last 16. Starting at the 10th, Reitan outpaced two bogeys today with nine birdies, one of those red numbers coming at the par-5 3rd hole where he’d taken eight swishes in Friday’s 77. What he’ll do from here is anybody’s guess after rounds of 65-77-65 but this week has certainly brought the youngster to our attention.

The Norwegian 20-year-old entered Qualifying School last year as an amateur and made such startling progress through each stage that he gained a card and promptly turned professional. On Thursday in Perth he ticked birdie on the front nine at the first, fifth and seventh with just the one bogey at the sixth in opposition. After making the turn he painted the card red with par breakers at the 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th. The latter two were especially notable. The first was a 15’0" effort to get him within one of the lead, the latter a 20’0" stunner to haul him next to Tabuena, two clear of the field in the morning wave. It’s been a tough introduction at this level. He is 1-for-4 and this is just a third sub-70 lap for the season, although having hit 67 in round two last week that is now two in his last three.