Masters: Jonny Clayton beats Mervyn King to win first individual televised PDC title
- Published
Jonny Clayton won six legs in a row in the final on his way to the Masters title
Wales' Jonny Clayton won his first individual televised PDC title as he beat Mervyn King in the Masters final.
Clayton, 46, fought back from 5-3 down to beat 54-year-old King 11-8 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
The victory also gives Clayton the last remaining place for the 2021 Premier League Darts event.
"It was my first time in the final and to get over the line is amazing," said Clayton, whose victory earns him £60,000.
"He went to sleep for a couple of legs and I took advantage. I've been hoping for a place in the Premier League so to hear that was amazing and I'm over the moon, absolutely chuffed to bits."
England's King, who would have qualified for the 10-man Premier League if he had won, told ITV Sport: "I can't tell you what happened because I've got no clue - it just did not feel right.
"I was just hoping I could hang in to the last leg but we didn't get that far and Jonny played some cracking darts."
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The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all took place on Sunday and Clayton fought back from 9-6 down to defeat James Wade 10-9 in the last eight.
He then won another last-leg shoot-out against former world champion Peter Wright to book his place in the final.
King defeated Nathan Aspinall 10-3 in the quarter-finals and then edged out current world champion Gerwyn Price 10-9 in their semi-final.
Clayton joins Price, Michael van Gerwen, Wright, Rob Cross, Aspinall, Gary Anderson, Dimitri van den Bergh, Glen Durrant and Jose de Sousa in the Premier League, which will be played at venues across the UK, as well as the Republic of Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The rearranged dates of the tournament are yet to be announced, although it is set to begin in the spring.
Masters quarter-finals: Mervyn King 10-3 Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price 10-6 Adrian Lewis, Peter Wright 10-5 Dave Chisnall, Jonny Clayton 10-9 James Wade
Semi-finals: King 11-10 Price, Clayton 11-10 Wright
Final: Clayton 11-8 King