Jonny Clayton

Last updated

Jonny Clayton
2022-06-13 Play-offs (2022 Premier League Darts) by Sandro Halank-038.jpg
Clayton in 2022
Personal information
Nickname"The Ferret"
Born (1974-10-04) 4 October 1974 (age 49)
Llanelli, Wales
Home town Pontyberem, Wales
Darts information
Playing darts since1995
Darts21 Gram Red Dragon Signature
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 2008–2015
PDC 2015–
(Tour Card: 2015–)
Current world ranking 11 Steady2.svg (21 April 2024) [1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Masters Last 272: 2012
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship Quarter Final: 2023
World Matchplay Runner Up: 2023
World Grand Prix Winner (1): 2021
UK Open Semi Final: 2020
Grand Slam Quarter Final: 2018, 2021
European Ch'ship Semi Final: 2020
Premier League Winner (1): 2021
PC Finals Runner Up: 2017
Masters Winner (1): 2021
World Series Finals Winner (1): 2021
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts (Team event) 2020, 2023
WDF Europe Cup Team 2014
Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions 2016
Berlin Buddy Bear Trophy (PL Night 9 Berlin) 2023

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2017, 2019
Players Championship (BOL) 2021
Players Championship (LEI) 2023
Players Championship (MK) 2021

European Tour Events

Austrian Darts Open 2018, 2023

World Series of Darts

New South Wales Darts Masters 2022

Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his first televised singles title, the 2021 Masters, which would lead him to qualifying for the 2021 Premier League Darts, which he would go on to win as well. He subsequently won his first ranked televised title at the 2021 World Grand Prix.

Contents

Career

2015

Clayton joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2015 after winning a Tour Card on the final day of Qualifying School. [2] His first quarter-final came at the sixth Players Championship event and he lost 6–1 to Benito van de Pas. [3] Clayton qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts later that year, but despite winning his opening match against Terry Jenkins, he went on to finish bottom of his group. [4]

2016

Clayton's first appearance at the UK Open came in the 2016 edition, but he was defeated 6–3 by James Wilson in the second round. [5] Clayton recorded a quarter-final showing at the eighth Players Championship and reached his first semi-final at the 12th event, but was whitewashed 6–0 by Gary Anderson. [6] A 2–0 victory over Tony Darlow saw Clayton claim the non-ranking Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions title. [7] He lost 6–3 to Darren Webster in round one of the Players Championship Finals. [8]

2017

Clayton made his PDC World Championship debut in the 2017 event, and came from a set down to beat fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 3–1 in the first round. [9] He lost 4–1 to Ian White in the second round. [10]

Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6–1 in the final. [11]

Clayton got to his first PDC major final at the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Jeffrey de Graaf, Price, Stephen Bunting, Steve Beaton and number 1 seed Rob Cross, before losing out to Michael van Gerwen. [12]

2018

His run to the final saw him break into the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit, meaning that he was a seed at the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, where he was eliminated by fellow countryman Jamie Lewis. [13]

He went on to win the 2018 Austrian Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price 8–5 in the final. This meant that he was the first welsh winner on the PDC European tour.

2019

Clayton won Players Championship 10 by defeating Gabriel Clemens 8–4 in the final. This was Jonny's 3rd ranking title.

2020: World Cup Champion

At this point a three-time PDC ranking title winner, Clayton was selected as a 'challenger' for the 2020 Premier League night in Cardiff, but lost 7–1 to an inspired Michael Smith. [14]

Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10–6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters. [15]

He went on to win the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts for Wales with Gerwyn Price as his teammate, defeating the English side of Rob Cross and Michael Smith 3–0.

2021: First individual title, Premier League and Grand Prix champion

Jonny Clayton (2022) 2022-06-13 Play-offs (2022 Premier League Darts) by Sandro Halank-044.jpg
Jonny Clayton (2022)

At the Masters Clayton beat José de Sousa, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright en route to the final where he faced Mervyn King. Clayton won the match 11–8 to win his first major individual televised title. In his match against Wade, he was successful in checking out 10 times out of 11 for a success rate of 91%, which the PDC claimed to be a possible world record. [16]

He won two Players Championship events early in 2021.

Upon winning the Masters tournament, Clayton was invited to participate in the 2021 Premier League Darts, where on the third night of his debut season he hit a nine-dart finish on the way to beating José de Sousa.

After the fifth evening of league action Clayton was placed at the top of the league. He slipped to as low as 8th, before going into 4th position for night 16. He had to achieve at least a draw to secure his place in the playoffs. He managed to do so and won his game against Dimitri Van den Bergh winning 8–6.

In the playoffs he beat Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in their semi-final. He went on to defeat José de Sousa 11–5 in the final. In doing so he became the first Welsh winner of the Premier League and the first player to finish 4th in the league phase and win the title.

Clayton participated in the World Grand Prix in which he reached the final after beating Callan Rydz, José de Sousa, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert along the way. In the final Clayton prevailed over World No. 1 Gerwyn Price with a 5–1 victory winning him his third major tournament of the year. Three weeks later, Clayton picked up his fourth TV title of the year with an 11–6 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals.

2022

At the 2022 World Championship, Clayton defeated Keane Barry and Gabriel Clemens before losing to eventual finalist Michael Smith 4–3.

2023

At the 2023 World Championship, Clayton whitewashed Danny van Trijp 3–0 in his second round tie, then defeated Brendan Dolan 4–1 in the third round before beating Josh Rock 4–3 to reach the quarter finals for the first time in his career. He lost his quarter-final to Dimitri Van den Bergh 5–3.

2024

At the 2024 World Championship, Clayton won his second-round match 3–1 against Steve Lennon, then defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 4–2 in the third round before being whitewashed 4–0 by Rob Cross in the fourth round.

World Championship performances

PDC

Career finals

PDC major finals: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore [N 1] Ref.
Runner-up1. 2017 Players Championship Finals Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen 2–11 (l) [17]
Winner1. 2021 The Masters Flag of England.svg Mervyn King 11–8 (l) [18]
Winner2. 2021 Premier League Flag of Portugal.svg José de Sousa 11–5 (l) [19]
Winner3. 2021 World Grand Prix Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gerwyn Price 5–1 (s) [20]
Winner4. 2021 World Series of Darts Finals Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Dimitri Van den Bergh 11–6 (l) [21]
Runner-up2. 2023 World Matchplay Flag of England.svg Nathan Aspinall 6–18 (l)

PDC team finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipCountryTeammateOpponents in the finalScore [N 1]
Winner1. 2020 World Cup of Darts Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Wales Gerwyn Price Flag of England.svg   England Michael Smith and Rob Cross 3–0 (m)
Runner-up1. 2022 World Cup of Darts Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Wales Gerwyn Price Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Australia Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock 1–3 (m)
Winner2. 2023 World Cup of Darts Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Wales Gerwyn Price Flag of Scotland.svg   Scotland Peter Wright and Gary Anderson 10–2 (l)

PDC World Series finals: 1 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
World Series of Darts (1–1)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1. 2022 New South Wales Darts Masters Flag of England.svg   James Wade 8–1 (l)
Runner-up1. 2022 New Zealand Darts Masters Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gerwyn Price 4–8 (l)

Career statistics

Performance Table Legend
WWon the tournamentFFinalistSFSemifinalistQFQuarterfinalist#R
RR
Prel.
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Preliminary round
DQDisqualified
DNQDid not qualifyDNPDid not participateWDWithdrewNHTournament not heldNYFNot yet founded

Performance timeline

Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship DNQ 2R 1R 2R 3R 3R 4R QF 4R
UK Open 1R 2R 3R 4R 5R SF 6R 6R 6R 6R
World Matchplay DNQ 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R F
World Grand Prix DNQ 1R 1R 2R W 2R 1R
European Championship DNQ 2R 1R 2R SF DNQ 2R 1R
Grand Slam of Darts RR DNQ QF DNQ 2R QF 2R RR
Players Championship Finals DNQ 1R F QF 1R 2R SF SF 2R
Non-ranked televised events
The Masters DNQ 1R QF W SF QF 1R
Premier League Darts DNP C W SF SF DNP
World Cup of Darts DNP QF 1R W SF F W
World Series of Darts Finals DNQ 1R DNQ QF DNQ W SF 2R
Career statistics
Year-end ranking746031151617879


PDC European Tour

Season12345678910111213
2015 GDC
DNP
GDT
DNP
GDM
DNQ
DDM
1R
IDO
2R
EDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
EDG
2R
2016 DDM
DNQ
GDM
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
EDM
2R
ADO
2R
EDO
2R
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
EDG
3R
GDC
DNQ
2017 GDC
DNQ
GDM
2R
GDO
DNQ
EDG
2R
GDT
2R
EDM
DNQ
ADO
2R
EDO
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
3R
2018 EDO
1R
GDG
2R
GDO
DNQ
ADO
W
EDG
DNQ
DDM
1R
GDT
QF
DDO
2R
EDM
2R
GDC
2R
DDC
2R
IDO
3R
EDT
3R
2019 EDO
3R
GDC
3R
GDG
2R
GDO
2R
ADO
2R
EDG
3R
DDM
2R
DDO
SF
CDO
2R
ADC
2R
EDM
QF
IDO
3R
GDT
2R
2020 BDC
1R
GDC
F
EDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
2021 HDT
2R
GDT
2R
2022 IDO
SF
GDC
QF
GDG
QF
ADO
3R
EDO
3R
CDO
2R
EDG
3R
DDC
DNP
EDM
2R
HDT
2R
GDO
3R
BDO
SF
GDT
3R
2023 BSD
SF
EDO
2R
IDO
QF
GDG
2R
ADO
W
DDC
2R
BDO
QF
CDO
QF
EDG
2R
EDM
2R
GDO
DNP
HDT
3R
GDC
2R
2024 BDO
QF
GDG
2R
IDO
2R
EDG
3R
ADO
BSD
DDC
EDO
GDC
FDT
HDT
SDT
CDO

Nine-dart finishes

Jonny Clayton's televised nine-dart finishes
DateOpponentTournamentMethod
7 March 2020 Flag of England.svg Chris Dobey UK Open 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12
7 April 2021 Flag of Portugal.svg José de Sousa Premier League 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

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