UK Open: Peter Wright beats Gerwyn Price in Minehead

Peter Wright was runner-up in the 2015 and 2016 UK Open tournaments

Peter Wright won the first major Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) title of his career after beating Gerwyn Price 11-6 in the UK Open final.

Wright beat Daryl Gurney 11-5 to seal his place in his third straight UK Open final after losing in 2015 and 2016.

The 46-year-old Scotsman finished on the bull in an 85 checkout to beat Price and take the £70,000 prize money.

Despite Price throwing four 180s and the highest checkout (117), Wright won the final three legs to seal victory.

"The fans have given me fantastic support, not just this year but also for the last two years," said Suffolk-based Wright.

"I don't want to put a downer on it, we had no Michael van Gerwen here and no Phil Taylor, but I still had the pressure of being favourite when you had Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis and all the other fantastic players in the tournament.

"It was a lot of pressure and I was happy just to get to the final, three years on the trot in one of the hardest tournaments. To win it is brilliant."

Former Cross Keys hooker Price reached his first major televised PDC final since leaving his career as a professional rugby player in 2014 and pulled from 8-3 down to 8-6 to put the pressure on Wright before the final interval.

The colourful Scot's victory was the first time that a player has won their first major PDC televised tournament since Michael van Gerwen clinched the 2012 World Grand Prix.

Reigning champion Van Gerwen did not compete in the tournament, which he won by beating Wright in 2015 and 2016, after failing to recover from a back injury.