DESPITE its relative youth, the PDC annual curtain raiser, The Cazoo Masters, has become more and more important and exciting since its beginnings in 2013.
During the Covid period, and for a time afterward, The Masters was seen as both a high-quality event in itself and as the final fence or opportunity for those wishing to gain a precious Premier League invitation.
2021,’22 and ’23 witnessed a lower-ranked player come through the draw to claim their first TV titles and be offered the final berth in the PDC’s flagship traveling event.
The same recently happened again to Stephen Bunting who claimed his first TV PDC event at the 2024 hosting but unluckily the Premier League field had already been competed and no place was on offer.
Not surprisingly though, the first name of the 8 on the Trophy is that of Phil Taylor. The Stoke-On-Trent legend had a habit of bagging the first staging of events. The Power is immediately followed by James Wade who edged out a resurgent Merv King. Then begins a period of total dominance by Michael Van Gerwen. The Green Machine won a remarkable 5 titles back-to-back between 2015 and 2019.
Since MVG relinquished his hold in 2019, when Peter Wright claimed the crown, we have witnessed three different champions two of whom, Jonny Clayton and Joe Cullen have been able to use the title as a rocket booster for their career.
August 2024 saw The Masters elevated to a ranking event for the first time and the field expanded to 32 players from 2025 it will effectively be the season’s first ‘major’ event.
One thing we are yet to see is a Masters 9-darter, perhaps that too can be witnessed in 2025?
Roll of Honour
2013 Phil Taylor def Adrian Lewis 10-1
2014 James Wade def Mervyn King 11-10
2015 Michael van Gerwen def Raymond van Barneveld 11-6
2016 Michael van Gerwen def Dave Chisnall 11-6
2017 Michael van Gerwen def Gary Anderson 11-7
2018 Michael van Gerwen def Raymond van Barneveld 11-9
2019 Michael van Gerwen def James Wade 11-5
2020 Peter Wright def Michael Smith 11-10
2021 Jonny Clayton def Mervyn King 11-8
2022 Joe Cullen def Dave Chisnall 11-9
2023 Chris Dobey def Rob Cross 11-7
2024 Stephen Bunting def Michael Van Gerwen 11-8
Nine-Darters
No nine-dart finishes have been achieved previously in the The Masters.
Sponsors – Cazoo, Ladbrokes
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
From 1972 Darts World 581 the 50th anniversary issue
