The Masters Tournament is one of the four men's major golf championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the first major golf tournament of the year. Unlike the other major tournaments, the Masters is always held at the same location: Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the city of Augusta, Georgia.
Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be either the greatest or one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tournaments in his career. Over a quarter-century, he won a record 18 major championships, three more than second-placed Tiger Woods. Nicklaus focused on the major championships—the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship—and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events. He competed in 164 major tournaments, more than any other player, and finished with 73 PGA Tour victories, third behind Sam Snead (82) and Woods (82).
Leighton Thomas Rees was a Welsh professional darts player. He was the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship, and was a former World No. 1 player. He was one of the sport's most successful players throughout the 1970s, and retired from the game in 1991.
Eric John Bristow, nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player.
John Lowe is an English former professional darts player. Along with Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson, he was known for dominating darts during the 1980s. Lowe was world champion on three occasions, in 1979, 1987 and 1993. He was also a two-time winner of the Winmau World Masters and a two-time World Cup singles champion. In total, Lowe won 15 BDO and WDF majors. He held the World No. 1 ranking on four occasions. In October 1984, he became the first player to hit a televised nine-dart finish.
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder member of the World Darts Federation in 1974. It also staged a World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020.
The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament was originally sponsored by Phonogram before changing its sponsor in 1975 to darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was originally contested as the best of 5 legs before later transitioning to the set format.
David Whitcombe is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals between 1980 and 1992.
Bob Sinnaeve is a Canadian former professional darts player.
David "Alan" Evans was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s.
The 1979 Embassy World Darts Championship was the second World Professional Championships. Having been held the previous year at the Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham, the event moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent where it was to remain until 1985.
The 1978 Embassy World Darts Championship was the first BDO World Darts Championship. The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation who had already set up the WDF World Cup and Winmau World Masters in its five years since formation. This was the only year that the tournament was played in a matchplay format of legs, rather than sets which came into operation from 1979 onwards. BBC Television covered the event and began a long broadcasting partnership with the BDO. Sid Waddell was the lead commentator on the tournament which he would cover for the BBC until 1994.
Anthony Brown was an English professional darts player. He came close to winning the world championship on a number of occasions, reaching the World Professional Darts Championships semi-finals four times, losing twice to Eric Bristow and twice to John Lowe.
Michael Seward Gregory was an English professional darts player, best remembered as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 1992 Embassy World Darts Championship final, which went to a tiebreak final leg and is regarded as one of the greatest matches in darts history.
Peter Kenneth Evison is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed The Fen Tiger, his greatest achievements were winning the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay.
Conrad Edward Daniels is an American former professional darts player who was active from the 1970s to the 1980s.
The split in darts refers to the acrimonious 1993 dispute between professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), resulting in the creation of a rival darts circuit under the banner of the World Darts Council, which eventually became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Richard Gardner is an English former professional darts player who had some success during the 1980s, and was one of the 16 top players who formed a breakaway organisation during an acrimonious split in the game during 1992–94.
RobertSmith is a Scottish former professional darts player. He won numerous tournaments in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was also twice a World Championship quarter-finalist. After a particularly successful 1977, his highest world ranking was No. 4 in early 1978. Smith retired from professional darts at a relatively young age in 1983 to spend more time with his children.
The 1974 Phonogram World Masters was the first major tournament on the BDO/WDF calendar for 1974. It took place from 31 August at the West Centre Hotel, Fulham.
Alan Evans 
