Leonard Gates

Last updated

Leonard Gates
Leonard Gates 2024.png
Gates at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts
Personal information
Nickname"Soulger" [1]
"Soldier" [2]
Born (1970-11-26) November 26, 1970 (age 54)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Home town Houston, Texas, U.S.
Darts information
Playing darts since2007
Darts22g Winmau Signature
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Too Hot ta Trot" by Commodores
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 2007–2020
PDC 2016–
WDF 2007–
Current world ranking ( PDC ) NR (30 October 2025) [3]
(WDF) 2 Steady2.svg (7 November 2025) [4]
WDF major events – best performances
World Championship Last 16: 2023
World Masters Last 272: 2017
PDC premier events – best performances
World Championship Last 64: 2023, 2025
UK Open Last 64: 2024
Grand Slam Group Stage: 2022, 2024
World Series Finals Last 16: 2022
WSDT major events – best performances
World ChampionshipSemi-final: 2023
World MatchplayWinner (1): 2023
World MastersWinner (1): 2023
ChampionsWinner (1): 2023
Other tournament wins
ADC National Singles 2023
ADC National Cricket Singles 2024
Camellia Classic Men 2019, 2020, 2022
CDC Continental Cup 2024
CDC Cross-Border Challenge 2025
CDC USA Series 2021
Charlotte Open 2017, 2019
Choo Choo Classic 2014, 2018
Colorado Open 2017, 2018
Houston Open 2012, 2013
Metroplex Open 2014
Missouri St. Patrick's Open 2023, 2024
Music City Classic 2013
North American Championship 2022
Oregon Open 2016
Port City Open 2016, 2017
San Francisco Open 2013
Shoot for the Moon 2022
Dartslive France 2015
Dartslive Japan 2017
Dartslive Las Vegas 2018
NDA World Championship 2016
Syracuse Open 2018
USA Dart Classic 2013, 2014
Virginia Beach Classic 2021
Washington Area Open 2015, 2016
White Mountain Shoot-out 2018
Witch City Open 2014
St. Patricks Open (doubles) 2023, 2024
MGCDA Early Bird XXXIX 2024

CDC Pro Tour (x11)

Leonard Gates (born November 26, 1970) is an American professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In World Seniors Darts (WSD) he won three televised titles in 2023; the WSDT Champion of Champions, World Seniors Matchplay and the World Seniors Masters. He was the 2022 PDC North American champion and has won ten titles on the CDC Pro Tour. Gates is currently ranked WDF world number two.

Contents

He is also a former baseball player, playing for Abilene Prairie Dogs, Massachusetts Mad Dogs, Catskill Cougars and Nashua Pride. [5]

Career

Gates started to play in WDF in 2007, winning numerous American darts tournaments, including exhibition ones. [5] His first appearance in major BDO tournament was in 2017 World Masters, where he lost in the last 272 to Paul Coughlin. [6]

In 2022, Gates qualified as a seed for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, but he lost in the second round to Steve Hine of England. [6]

In June, Gates took part in the 2022 US Darts Masters, where he was one of the eight North American qualifiers. He defeated Fallon Sherrock 6–2 in the first round before losing to Peter Wright 3–8 in the quarter-finals. [6] At the same time, he played in the 2022 PDC North American Championship, where he went on to defeat Jules van Dongen and David Cameron, [6] before beating Danny Baggish in the final and securing his first PDC title, which meant he qualified for the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship and 2022 Grand Slam of Darts as well. [7]

In September, Gates took a part in the 2022 World Series of Darts Finals, where he reached the second round, defeating Devon Petersen 6–4 in the first round, [6] then losing to James Wade 4–6 in the next one. [6]

In 2023, Gates and Jules van Dongen represented the United States on the World Cup of Darts, but they lost in the group stage. [6]

In 2024, Gates qualified for his first PDC major of 2024, qualifying for the UK Open. [8] In round 1, he narrowly beat Conan Whitehead in a close game, in the second round he faced Rhys Grffin whom he beat 6-3, in the third round he faced former World Championship finalist Jim Williams who Gates went on to beat 6-2 with an average of 92 per three darts, in the next round he faced a very experienced player in Martin Lukeman, it was a very long and competitive game but Gates was knocked out of the tournament with Lukeman beating him 10-5. [6]

Also apart from steeltip darts, Gates plays in darts tournaments of the World Soft Darts Association (WSDA) as well, being one of the most popular soft-tip contenders. [9]

World Championship results

[6]

WDF

PDC

WSDT

Performance timeline

Source: [6]

PDC

Tournament2022202320242025
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship DNQ 2R DNQ 2R
UK Open DNP 4R DNP
Grand Slam of Darts RR DNQ RR DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts DNP RR DNP
Career statistics
Season-end ranking (PDC)106 [10] -93 [11]

WDF

Tournament20222023
WDF Ranked major/platinum events
WDF World Championship 2R 3R
WDF World Masters 2R DNP

WSD

Tournament202320242025
WSD Televised events
World Seniors Darts Championship SF 1R QF
Champion of Champions W QF DNP
World Seniors Masters W DNPNH
World Seniors Matchplay W F NH

Nine-dart finishes

[6]

Leonard Gates televised nine-dart finishes
DateOpponentTournamentMethodPrize
November 25, 2023 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Martin ThomasMODUS Super Series3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12–

References

  1. ↑ "Leonard Gates – Mastercaller".
  2. ↑ "Leonard Gates – champdarts.com".
  3. ↑ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. October 30, 2025. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  4. ↑ "WDF Open Rankings Table". WDF. November 7, 2025. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Gorton, Josh (December 3, 2022). "Former baseball star Gates aiming to strike at Alexandra Palace". PDC . Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Leonard Gates". Dartsdatabase. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Gutsy Gates wins 2022 bet365 North American Championship". PDC.tv. June 4, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Gorton, Josh. "Gates headlines latest Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for Ladbrokes UK Open". PDC . Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Feature Story – Leonard Gates -". WSDA. 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Post World Championship Order of Merit 2022". Darts Rankings.
  11. ↑ "Post World Championship Order of Merit 2024". Darts Rankings.
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