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PDC World Masters

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This article is about the tournament organised by the PDC, called the World Masters from 2025. For the tournament organised by the BDO and the WDF, see World Masters (darts).

PDC World Masters
The Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, where the tournament has been held since 2015
Tournament information
VenueMarshall Arena
LocationMilton Keynes
CountryScotland (2013–2014)
England (since 2015)
Established2013
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs (2013–2024),
Sets (2025–)
Prize fund£500,000 (2025)
Month(s) PlayedNovember (2013–14)
January/February (2015–present)
Current champion(s)
 Stephen Bunting

The PDC World Masters, known for sponsorship purposes as the Winmau World Masters and formerly known as simply The Masters, is a professional darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The tournament was introduced in 2013 and has been held at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England, since 2015. Starting from the 2025 edition, the tournament will feature the top 24 darts players according to the PDC Order of Merit, plus eight qualifiers from a preliminary round to complete a 32-player field.

History

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The inaugural edition of The Masters, held in 2013, was won by Phil Taylor, who defeated Adrian Lewis 10–1 in the final.[1][2] James Wade won the following year by defeating Mervyn King 11–10 in the 2014 final.[3][4] Michael van Gerwen became the third different champion in three years when he defeated Raymond van Barneveld 11–6.[5][6]

In 2013 and 2014, the tournament took place in the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland and was played in early November. However, the tournament was moved to early February in 2015 and had a new venue at the Arena MK (renamed Marshall Arena in 2019) in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament has been held in late January/early February ever since.

In 2024, the PDC announced The Masters would get rebranded into the "Winmau World Masters" for the 2025 edition, emulating the World Masters tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation and later the World Darts Federation which was also sponsored by Winmau.[7]

Format

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From 2013 to 2020, the tournament featured the Top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit, in a fixed draw (1 plays 16, 2 plays 15 and so on). The first round and the quarter-finals were played over best of 19 legs, the semi-finals and the final were played over best of 21 legs.

For the 2021 tournament, the participants increased from the Top 16 to the Top 24, with the Top 8 automatically going to the second round and the players ranked 9 to 24 playing in the first round over best of 11 legs.[8]

From the 2025 tournament, the field expanded to 32 players, with the Top 16 being seeded in the first round and drawn to play the players ranked 17 to 24 and eight more qualifiers. The eight qualifiers are determined through a preliminary round held the day before the main tournament, featuring the remaining PDC Tour Card holders and players from the PDC's affiliated tours. The 2025 tournament will also see the introduction of set play, with all sets being played to the best of three legs.[9]

Masters finals

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Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-up (average in final) Prize money Sponsor Venue
Total Champion Runner-up
2013 England Phil Taylor (108.50) 10–1 England Adrian Lewis (100.03) £160,000 £50,000 £20,000 Coral Scotland Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh
2014 England James Wade (91.39) 11–10 England Mervyn King (92.15) Unibet
2015 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (112.49) 11–6 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (96.13) £200,000 £60,000 £25,000 England Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
(known as Arena MK until 2018)
2016 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (98.94) 11–6 England Dave Chisnall (96.71)
2017 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (109.42) 11–7 Scotland Gary Anderson (103.58)
2018 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (105.85) 11–9 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (100.55)
2019 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (99.82) 11–5 England James Wade (87.44) BetVictor
2020 Scotland Peter Wright (95.01) 11–10 England Michael Smith (89.71) Ladbrokes
2021 Wales Jonny Clayton (104.10) 11–8 England Mervyn King (94.95) £220,000
2022  Joe Cullen (96.89) 11–9  Dave Chisnall (90.23)
2023 England Chris Dobey (94.05) 11–7 England Rob Cross (90.20) £275,000 £65,000 £30,000 Cazoo
2024 England Stephen Bunting (102.50) 11–7 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (98.27)
2025 £500,000 £100,000 £50,000 Winmau

Records and statistics

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As of 2024, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade, Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall are the only players to appear in all 12 editions of the Masters.

As of 26 January 2025.

Total finalist appearances

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Rank Player Nationality Won Runner-up Finals Appearances
1 Michael van Gerwen Netherlands Netherlands 5 1 6 12
2 James Wade England England 1 1 2 12
3 Stephen Bunting England England 1 0 1 6
Jonny Clayton Wales Wales 1 0 1 6
Joe Cullen England England 1 0 1 6
Chris Dobey England England 1 0 1 3
Phil Taylor England England 1 0 1 5
Peter Wright Scotland Scotland 1 0 1 12
9 Dave Chisnall England England 0 2 2 12
Mervyn King England England 0 2 2 5
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands Netherlands 0 2 2 6
12 Gary Anderson Scotland Scotland 0 1 1 9
Rob Cross England England 0 1 1 7
Adrian Lewis England England 0 1 1 8
Michael Smith England England 0 1 1 9
  • Active players are shown in bold
  • Only players who reached the final are included
  • In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name

Champions by country

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Country Players Total First title Last title
 Netherlands 1 5 2015 2019
 England 5 5 2013 2024
 Scotland 1 1 2020 2020
 Wales 1 1 2021 2021

High averages

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Masters highest one-match averages
Average Player Year (+ round) Opponent Result
112.49 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2015, final Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 11–6
112.32 England Rob Cross 2023, second round Scotland Gary Anderson 10–6
112.20 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2016, first round England Stephen Bunting 10–1
111.17 Scotland Gary Anderson 2023, second round England Rob Cross 6–10
111.14 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2018, quarter-final England James Wade 10–2
110.28 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2015, quarter-final England Dave Chisnall 10–9
110.05 England Phil Taylor 2014, first round England Wes Newton 10–4
109.74 Scotland Gary Anderson 2017, first round Netherlands Benito van de Pas 10–3
109.42 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2017, final Scotland Gary Anderson 11–7
109.28 England Phil Taylor 2013, quarter-final England Wes Newton 8–2
Masters highest one-match losing averages
Average Player Year (+ round) Opponent Result
111.17 Scotland Gary Anderson 2023, second round England Rob Cross 6–10
108.09 England Dave Chisnall 2015, quarter-final Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 9–10
106.95 England Adrian Lewis 2014, quarter-final England James Wade 6–10
106.48 England Dave Chisnall 2018, first round Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 9–10
106.43 Belgium Kim Huybrechts 2013, first round England Adrian Lewis 5–6
Different players with a 100+ match average (Updated 04/02/24)
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ round)
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 20 112.49 2015, final
England Phil Taylor 10 110.05 2014, first round
Scotland Gary Anderson 8 111.17 2023, second round
Scotland Peter Wright 7 104.72 2021, quarter-finals
England Dave Chisnall 6 109.26 2024, first round
Wales Jonny Clayton 6 105.41 2021, quarter-finals
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 6 103.51 2018, quarter-finals
England Adrian Lewis 5 107.93 2013, quarter-finals
England Michael Smith 5 105.49 2022, second round
Austria Mensur Suljović 4 106.12 2019, first round
England Joe Cullen 3 106.30 2022, second round
England James Wade 3 105.56 2014, semi-finals
England Stephen Bunting 3 102.50 2024, final
England Mervyn King 3 101.97 2021, first round
England Rob Cross 2 112.32 2023, second round
Australia Simon Whitlock 2 105.90 2021, second round
Wales Gerwyn Price 2 105.60 2021, quarter-finals
Australia Damon Heta 2 102.96 2024, second round
Belgium Kim Huybrechts 1 106.43 2013, first round
Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh 1 105.31 2022, first round
Germany Martin Schindler 1 103.85 2024, first round
England Ian White 1 101.78 2022, first round
Portugal José de Sousa 1 101.29 2021, first round
England Justin Pipe 1 100.40 2014, first round
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 1 100.14 2016, first round

Media coverage

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The Masters is broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom, DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Viaplay in the Netherlands.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "2013 PDC The Masters". Mastercaller. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Masters: Phil Taylor thrashes Adrian Lewis in all-Stoke final". BBC Sport. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  3. ^ "2014 PDC The Masters". Mastercaller. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  4. ^ Pass, Stephen (2 November 2014). "Unibet Masters: James Wade comes from 9-2 down to beat Mervyn King in final". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  5. ^ "2015 PDC The Masters". Mastercaller. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Michael van Gerwen beats Van Barneveld to win first Masters title". BBC Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  7. ^ Phillips, Josh (28 October 2024). "Winmau World Masters to return as PDC event undergoes radical rebrand". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  8. ^ Allen, Dave (5 January 2021). "Ladbrokes Masters expands to 24 players in 2021". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Winmau World Masters darts: Schedule, draw, results, format as Luke Littler, Luke Humphries headline 2025 edition". Sky Sports. 21 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  10. ^ Allen, Scott (4 December 2024). "2025 Darts Calendar: Every major televised tournament, dates, results and where to watch". PlanetSport. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
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