The Twelfth edition of The Masters was held in Milton Keynes from 2 to 4 February. For the fourth year in a row, the best 24 players of the Order of Merit participated in this tournament. Stephen Bunting managed to win the final against Michael van Gerwen, taking his first PDC major title ever.
Before the tournament, world number five Gerwyn Price withdraws and is replaced by Daryl Gurney. This year the tournament will once again produce a surprising winner. For the fourth year in a row, this is someone from outside the worlds top 8. In the last 16, the curtain falls for the number one seed, Luke Humphries, he loses to the subsequent winner. Michael Smith (3), Rob Cross (6) and Danny Noppert (7) are also out at the first hurdle.
Stephen Bunting beats Peter Wright 10-2 in the quarter-final and Nathan Aspinall 11-1 in the semi-final. At the other end of the schedule, the world number two makes no mistakes. Michael van Gerwen beats Chris Dobey 10-4 and in the quarterfinals Dave Chisnall with the same scoreline. Dimitri Van den Bergh is no match in the semi-finals. The Belgian wins 2 legs.
The final is an exciting one. The score is level until 3-3, then Bunting takes a 6-3 lead thanks to a few good finishes, only to see Van Gerwen come back to 6-6. The decision is made in the 16th leg when Mighty Mike misses two darts on the double and Bunting takes advantage of this to break. Van Gerwen does not recover from this and Bunting immediately takes the last two legs of the match.
Stephen Bunting is the eighth winner of The Masters in 12 editions. It is the first time that Michael van Gerwen loses the final of The Masters after five previous victories.