Following on from an action packed few weeks of darts, the next stop this weekend is the United States. The PDC’s best will head to Madison Square Gardens in NYC to take on North American players in the bet365 US Darts Masters.
The next stage of the 2024 World Series of Darts is arguably the biggest as eight of the best PDC players land in New York to compete against eight regional qualifiers from North America.
World Champion Luke Humphries, Premier League winner Luke Littler, and 2023 US Darts Master winner Michael Van Gerwen are all in attendance for a star studded lineup and weekend of darts.
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2024 US Darts Masters Preview
Coming off the back of a dream debut campaign, Luke Littler will be hoping to keep the momentum going having just won his first PDC Major in the Premier League Play-offs and finished top of the Premier League table.
He beat Luke Humphries in the final (see full review here) as the ‘Luke’ duo are taking over darts in 2024.
While Littler hasn’t had much press in the run up to the US Masters this weekend, Luke Humphries has spoken of his desire to return to winning ways…
“Last year was a great experience, but this year I want to win it,” Humphries said.
“Madison Square Garden is such an iconic venue, so it would be really special to add this title to my mantelpiece.
“We have a lot to play for over the next two to three months so I want to get back to winning ways, and this is the title out of all the World Series events that I’d love to lift.”
Quote source – PDC Official
🗣️ "Madison Square Garden is such an iconic venue, so it would be really special to add this title to my mantelpiece."
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 29, 2024
World Champion Luke Humphries is determined to return to winning ways as he prepares to headline this weekend’s bet365 US Darts Masters in New York! 🗽
Luke isn’t the only one wanting to return to winning ways.
Michael Van Gerwen has had a poor 12 months by his standards and in the last fortnight he’s been defeated in two Semi-finals, one of which was in his homeland at the Dutch Darts Championship.
Related – Josh Rock wins Dutch Darts Championship
This weekend, Van Gerwen lands in the US as the reigning US Darts Masters champion and he’ll be desperate to retain his title and get back to winning ways.
Just this week, Matthew Edgar has commented on the Love The Darts Podcast that he thinks “Van Gerwen might be playing through injury “while Chris Mason speaking on another podcast interview (Online Darts) has said he’s worried about the evolution or his throw.
Players are noticing that Van Gerwen is no longer a dominant force and he really needs to shut this noise down with some big wins going into the second part of this year.
He’s still sitting 2nd in the PDC Order of Merit which says a lot about his high reputation when he’s taking criticism despite ranking so highly.
US Darts Masters Players
The format for the US Darts Masters will see the eight best PDC players* take on the eight best players from North America.
*Best is not a literal judgement of ability, it’s just the 8 players who have competed in the PDC Premier League this season.
The line-up is the following:
PDC
Luke Littler
Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith
Nathan Aspinall
Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright
North America
Jeff Smith
Matt Campbell
Jules van Dongen
Danny Lauby
Stowe Buntz
Alex Spellman
David Cameron
Adam Sevada
2024 US Darts Masters Prize Money
There’s a £60,000 prize fund at this year’s US Darts Masters and it’s the same split and amount to the winner as it has been since the tournament began in 2017. The breakdown is as follows:
Winner: £20,000
Runner-up: £10,000
Semi-finals: £5,000
Quarter-finals: £2,500
Last 16: £1,250
2024 US Darts Masters Schedule
The full schedule has not yet been released but the early rounds of the tournament will be played on Friday 31st May and the closing stages will take place on Saturday June 1st.
Catch all the action on ITV4 or ITV Sport, DAZN or Viaplay. Tickets are still available here and we’ll also be bringing you live updates, opinions, and darts news on decentdarts.com and socials.