Phil Taylor was crowned the first ever winner of the coral.co.uk Players Championship with an authoritative display to beat Robert Thornton 16-9.
The Power was as short as 1-20 to win the £50,000 first prize, but his Scottish opponent looked like making a mockery of those odds, matching Taylor leg for leg in the opening exchanges.
With the scores level at 6-6, the capacity crowd at the Circus Tavern sensed they may be about to witness one of the biggest upsets in darting history.
But the 14-time world champion shifted up the gears to win the next five legs, and the final was never in doubt after that.
“It’s all been going so well for me and I’m now rich beyond my wildest dreams!” said Taylor. “Twelve months ago it wasn’t going well, but you have to keep practising and it's paid off.”
It means the man from Stoke has now won every major PDC tournament since last June's UK Open, as he continues his quest for a clean sweep of the major televised darts titles.
And worryingly, the 48-year-old believes he has more in the locker.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn and improve on, and I’ll be back practising Monday morning,” added Taylor.
Thornton was appearing in his first televised PDC final and Taylor had nothing but praise for him.
“Robert played brilliantly,” Taylor said. “When I pulled up at the hotel, he was the first person I saw and he was busy practising, and I thought this fella could be in the final.”
Thornton rued some missed opportunities but accepted he was no match for Taylor in the end.
“I did miss a couple of doubles, but I failed to capitalise and you can’t give Phil second chances,” said Thornton.
"I’ve only been in the PDC for nine months so I haven’t done too badly have I?”
