Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve under immense final-day pressure to secure a dramatic wire-to-wire victory at the 2026 Nedbank Golf Challenge in honor of Gary Player, claiming his second DP World Tour title in a gripping finish.
The Norwegian started Sunday with a commanding five-shot lead but found himself under intense pressure as home favorite Jayden Schaper and England’s Dan Bradbury mounted a relentless charge. Despite visible nerves and uneven rhythm, Reitan delivered just enough composure down the stretch to close out a one-shot victory at 17-under-par with a level-par 71.
After mixing four birdies with three bogeys on the front nine, Reitan turned in 35, still holding a four-shot cushion. But as Schaper and Bradbury caught fire on the back nine, the gap shrank rapidly. When Reitan bogeyed the 15th after failing to escape thick rough, his lead was cut to just one.
Under maximum pressure, Reitan steadied himself brilliantly, paring the final three holes to seal a historic win and become the first Norwegian champion in the tournament’s history. Schaper and Bradbury finished joint second, one shot behind.
The victory capped off a remarkable season for Kristoffer Reitan, who earlier captured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Soudal Open and earned dual membership on the PGA Tour. The Nedbank triumph marked his second win of the calendar year and his second consecutive season with a DP World Tour victory.
“I had a lot of nerves today,” said Reitan after the round. “But to get it over the line in the end is a better feeling than I can describe. It’s really hard to win a golf tournament, and I’m incredibly proud of myself and my whole team.”
Reitan admitted the pressure never truly eased, even after key birdies. “Those two guys kept pushing me. I needed things to go my way as well, and I’m just really happy to have handled it in the end.”
The day also marked a high point for Scandinavian golf, following Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen’s victory at the Crown Australian Open earlier in the day.
Despite falling narrowly short, Jayden Schaper praised the atmosphere and occasion. “It’s one you really want to win, especially at home. The crowd was insane. It’s such a special event and I’d love to be back again next year.”
Bradbury, too, delivered a fearless chase but ultimately ran out of holes as Reitan’s closing stretch proved decisive.
With this victory, Reitan continues to cement his status as one of Europe’s most composed closers proving once again that championships are not only won with shot-making, but with nerve.
About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf tour of the European Tour group.
As golf’s global tour, we showcase global talent in global destinations and use our platform to build, entertain and connect our global community.
GLOBAL TALENT: We provide pathways and a platform for the leading international talent, bringing together golfing icons, national heroes and emerging stars from around the world.
GLOBAL DESTINATIONS: We stage tournaments in iconic cities and locations around the world and each week we celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the courses, cities and cultures we visit.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We build, entertain and connect communities through our commitment to innovation, creative content and having a positive social and environmental impact.
Our 2026 Global Schedule features 42 tournaments in 25 different countries and comprises three distinct phases: five ‘Global Swings’, the ‘Back 9’ and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’. It features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, Aldar, AWS, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet, Nexo and Vestas as Official Partners.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
