Cool Hand Holds His Nerve: Humphries Wins First World Masters in Dramatic Final
- Darts Central
- Feb 3
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 12
A New Era for the PDC Masters
The 2025 PDC Winmau World Masters marked a major milestone, as it became the first ranked Masters in PDC history, while also adopting the historic set-play format. This format, first introduced in the Winmau World Masters in 1975 under the BDO and later WDF, brought an exciting, unpredictable edge to the competition.
Held at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, the tournament kicked off with behind-closed-doors preliminary rounds on January 29th, followed by the main event from January 30th to February 2nd, broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK.
The shift to this classic set-play format, which requires just two legs to win a set, introduced an element of fast-paced drama and potential upsets—making it a refreshing change from other tournaments like the World Grand Prix and World Championship, which use best-of-five legs per set.
In October 2024, the PDC revealed that the top 24 ranked players after the World Championship would automatically qualify, with eight additional players emerging from the preliminary rounds, which were played under the same classic set-play system.
Prize Money Breakdown
The total prize fund for this year’s tournament was £500,000, a significant increase from 2024’s edition of £275,000.
Position | Prize Money |
Winner | £100,000 |
Runner-up | £50,000 |
Semi-finalists | £30,000 |
Quarter Finalists | £17,500 |
Second Round Losers | £10,000 |
First Round Losers | £5,000 |
Preliminary Round Last 16 Losers | £2,500 |
Preliminary Round Last 32 Losers | £1,000 |
Preliminary Round Last 64 Losers | £750 |
Early Rounds: Shock Exits and Standout Performances
The opening night brought a massive shock as Willie O’Connor stunned Rob Cross, just a week after Cross had triumphed at the 2025 Dutch Darts Masters. O’Connor sealed a thrilling 3-2 win, landing a crucial 151 checkout to clinch victory despite Cross averaging 103.
Dave Chisnall’s struggles on TV continued as he fell 3-1 to Cameron Menzies in a low-quality contest, extending a difficult run in majors over the 2024 season. His only significant run beyond the second round came at the 2024 UK Open, where he reached the 6th round.
Standout performances included:
Luke Littler breezed through his first two matches, dropping just one leg against Andy Baetens and James Wade while averaging over 100 in both.
Jonny Clayton hit his highest-ever PDC average (112.77) in a win over Martin Schindler, who also impressed with a 105.05 average.
Dimitri Van den Bergh knocked out two-time world champion Gary Anderson before producing a thrilling 4-3 win over Michael van Gerwen, hitting his third televised 9-darter along the way.
Quarter Finals & Semi Finals—The Business End
Luke Humphries (4-1) Damon Heta—A dominant display from the World No. 1.
Danny Noppert (4-3) Stephen Bunting—A dramatic decider with missed match darts on both sides.
Jonny Clayton (4-2) Luke Littler—A high-quality contest, with ‘The Ferret’ averaging 103.96, defying Littler, who hit nine 180s and a 108.5 average.
Dimitri Van den Bergh (4-1) Nathan Aspinall—Continuing his fine form.
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries (5-2) Danny Noppert—Noppert started strong, going 2-0 up, but Humphries stormed back with five straight sets, dropping just one leg in the process as his power scoring proved too much to handle for ‘The Freeze.’.
Jonny Clayton (5-2) Dimitri Van den Bergh—A scrappy affair, with averages of 90.51 (Clayton) and 85.19 (Van den Bergh) and 41 missed darts at doubles between them. Clayton showed enough composure to seal the win and earn a place in the final.
The Final: A Battle for the Ages
In the final, an in-form Luke Humphries, who had dropped just four sets throughout the tournament, faced Jonny Clayton, who had fought through a tougher route, including a massive win over Littler.
Clayton took a 2-1 lead, but Humphries quickly regained control with four straight sets, racing into a 5-2 advantage. Yet, Clayton wasn’t done. He fought back with three consecutive high-quality sets to force a decider.
Final Set Drama:
Clayton broke the throw to go 1-0 up after Humphries missed three darts at double.
Humphries immediately broke back with a 15-darter, denying Clayton a shot at 104.
In the deciding leg, both players had three-dart combination finishes left after 12 darts—Humphries on 116 and Clayton on 120.
Humphries misfired with his first dart into the single 5 but composed himself to leave 40.
Clayton had a shot at 120 to win the title but missed the treble 20 with all 3 darts.
Humphries took double top on his second dart to seal the title.
Luke Humphries was crowned the first-ever PDC Winmau World Masters champion since the rebrand, securing his 7th major title in just 15 months.
Post-Match Reaction
🎤 Humphries to ITV4:
“I am a lucky, lucky boy. I think I was fortunate there; I started to feel the nerves when I was 5-2 up, and I started to miss doubles. I was trying too hard to close the game out. Jonny was coming back at me, and when he went 5-all, I thought the game was gone for me. That double top (to win), I must admit I was shaking; my heart was pounding, but it went in, and I was really, really pleased. It is really nice to be the first name on the rejuvenated Winmau World Masters trophy.”
🎤 Clayton to ITV4:
“I had to dig in; he was running away with everything. This guy is a class act; he gave me a few chances, which I missed, but I also took a few. I didn’t give up; I wanted to give Luke a great game, and I think it was a great game. Games like that, you need a winner, and one has to lose. All credit to Luke, a fantastic person and player.”
Key Takeaways from the 2025 PDC Winmau World Masters
🎯 Luke Humphries Triumphs Again—The World No. 1 adds another major title to his collection, winning his 7th major in just 15 months.
⚡ Jonny Clayton’s Fighting Spirit— Despite a shaky start in the final, Clayton battled back from 5-2 down to force a deciding set, showing incredible resilience. His encouraging run sees him rise to No. 6 in the world rankings.
💥 Dimitri Van den Bergh’s 9-Darter— The Belgian hit his third career televised 9-darter in a thrilling win over MVG, marking one of the tournament’s standout moments.
🔄 Shock Early Exits—Big names like Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall crashed out in the opening rounds, proving the unpredictability of the set-play format.
🏆 Classic Format, Classic Drama—The rebranded Winmau World Masters delivered high drama with its fast-paced best of 3 legs set-play format, creating more twists and turns than ever before.
📅 What’s Next? – The PDC Premier League kicks off in Belfast on February 6th, followed by the first Players Championship events of the season on February 10-11.
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