Overview
Background
The inaugural edition of the Masters, the 2013 Masters, was staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) from 1 to 3 November 2013 at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland and was broadcast live on ITV4. [1] Phil Taylor won the first final, defeating Adrian Lewis 10–1. [2] Since 2015, the tournament has been held in Milton Keynes, England. [3] The tournament initially featured the top 16 players in the world before increasing to the top 24 in 2021. [4]
In August 2024, it was announced that the field would expand to 32 players and the Masters would become a ranked event, starting from the 2025 edition. [5] This preceded a bigger announcement that was made on 28 October 2024. The PDC announced a complete revamp of the competition, rebranding it from the Masters to the World Masters, emulating the World Masters which was first held in 1975 and organised by the British Darts Organisation and later the World Darts Federation. [6] [7] The revamp saw a change in format from leg play to set play, and saw preliminary rounds introduced to determine the eight qualifiers who would join the top 24 players on the PDC Order of Merit in the main competition. [6]
Sponsored by darts manufacturer Winmau, the 2026 PDC World Masters will be held from 29 January to 1 February 2026, preceded by the preliminary rounds held on 28 January; all matches will be held at Arena MK in Milton Keynes. [8] [9] Luke Humphries enters the tournament as defending champion, having defeated Jonny Clayton 6–5 in the 2025 final. [10]
Format
The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit will be seeded for the first round, and will be drawn against the remaining 16 participants. [11] All matches will be played in traditional World Masters set format, where all sets are played to the best of three legs, with the number of sets required to win increasing as the tournament progresses. [6] [8]
| Round | Best of (sets) | First to (sets) |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary | 3 | 2 |
| First | 5 | 3 |
| Second | 7 | 4 |
| Quarter-finals | 7 | 4 |
| Semi-finals | 9 | 5 |
| Final | 11 | 6 |
Prize money
The prize money for the tournament is £500,000 in total. The winner's prize money is £100,000. [11]
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £500,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £100,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £50,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £30,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £17,500 |
| Second round losers | (8) | £10,000 |
| First round losers | (16) | £5,000 |
| Preliminary round Last 16 losers | (8) | £2,500 |
| Preliminary round Last 32 losers | (16) | £1,000 |
| Preliminary round Last 64 losers | (32) | £750 |
