1994 World Matchplay

April 2022 1994 Proton Cars World Matchplay 1–8 August 1994 Winter Gardens Blackpool, England Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Legs £42,800 £10,000 Larry Butler USA 1995 The 1994 Proton Cars World Matchplay was the inaugural staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament, and was held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool from 1 to 8 August 1994. This was the first World Matchplay tournament to be held at Winter Gardens, and was sponsored by Malaysian automaker Proton. The tournament was won by Larry Butler, who became the first, and so far only player from the United States of America to win a PDC televised title. He defeated the reigning WDC world champion Dennis Priestley in the final; Priestley would go on to lose the next two World Matchplay finals in addition to this. The second round match between Jim Watkins and Keith Deller went into a tiebreak at 7–7 in legs, and finished with Watkins winning 18–16, meaning that 20 of the 34 legs of the match were within the tiebreak itself. Prize money The prize fund was £42,400. Position (no. of players) Prize money(Total: £42,400)Winner (1) £10,000Runner-Up (1) £6,000Third place (1) £3,250Fourth place (1) £2,750Quarter-finalists (4) £1,500Second round (8) £800First round (16) £500 Seeds ENG Dennis Priestley ENG Peter Evison ENG Bob Anderson USA Steve Brown ENG Rod Harrington USA Sean Downs ENG Cliff Lazarenko ENG Kevin Spiolek Results First round (best of 15 legs)1–3 Augusthttp://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=258/ 1994 World Matchplay Results dartsdatabase.co.uk 1 January 2015February 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Sporting Digest: Darts The Independent London 1994-08-02 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-5428189.html https://web.archive.org/web/20251103055237/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-5428189.html 2025-11-03 live 2025-11-03Sporting Digest: Darts The Independent London 1994-08-03 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374065.html https://web.archive.org/web/20251103060256/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374065.html 2025-11-03 live 2025-11-03Sporting Digest: Darts The Independent London 1994-08-04 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374315.html https://web.archive.org/web/20251103060841/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374315.html 2025-11-03 live 2025-11-03 Second round (best of 15 legs)4–5 AugustSporting Digest: Darts The Independent London 1994-08-04 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374315.html https://web.archive.org/web/20251103060841/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sporting-digest-darts-1374315.html 2025-11-03 live 2025-11-03 Quarter-finals (best of 21 legs)6 August Semi-finals (best of 21 legs)7 August Final (best of 31 legs)8 August Third place playoff (best of 21 legs)8 August 200 1 ENG Dennis Priestley 88.41 8 ENG Eric Bristow 76.29 3   USA Gerald Verrier 83.49 8 ENG John Lowe 76.80 2 8 ENG Kevin Spiolek 80.10 6 SCO Jamie Harvey 82.89 8   ENG Graeme Stoddart 81.30 8 USA Whit Whitley 72.99 2 5 ENG Rod Harrington 86.61 8 ENG Kevin Burrows 78.99 2   USA Tony Payne 88.23 3 SGP Paul Lim 82.11 8 4 USA Steve Brown 78.90 4 USA Jim Watkins 85.89 8   USA Jim Widmayer 78.21 6 ENG Keith Deller 83.40 8 2 ENG Peter Evison 81.21 3 SCO Jocky Wilson 82.50 8   ENG Ritchie Gardner 88.80 6 ENG Alan Warriner 91.29 8 7 ENG Cliff Lazarenko 72.09 6 USA Jerry Umberger 78.51 8   USA Larry Butler 83.61 8 ENG Steve Raw 80.49 2 6 USA Sean Downs 77.61 7 ENG Shayne Burgess 80.49 9   USA Dave Kelly 70.80 3 ENG Dennis Smith 79.89 8 3 ENG Bob Anderson 85.29 8 ENG Mick Manning 83.79 4   IRE Tom Kirby 81.81 2 ENG Phil Taylor 86.70 8 1 ENG Dennis Priestley 89.10 8 USA Gerald Verrier 80.10 4   SCO Jamie Harvey 87.21 8 ENG Graeme Stoddart 79.80 3 5 ENG Rod Harrington 78.81 8 SGP Paul Lim 81.09 4   USA Jim Watkins 82.29 18 ENG Keith Deller 80.01 16   SCO Jocky Wilson 88.59 10 ENG Alan Warriner 86.10 8   USA Jerry Umberger 78.30 2 USA Larry Butler 82.50 8   ENG Shayne Burgess 84.99 8 ENG Dennis Smith 79.59 4 3 ENG Bob Anderson 90.51 11 ENG Phil Taylor 89.49 9 1 ENG Dennis Priestley 98.49 11 SCO Jamie Harvey 87.81 4 5 ENG Rod Harrington 86.79 11 USA Jim Watkins 81.09 7   SCO Jocky Wilson 90.39 4   USA Larry Butler 94.29 11 ENG Shayne Burgess 88.11 11 3 ENG Bob Anderson 89.91 8 1 ENG Dennis Priestley 94.80 11 5 ENG Rod Harrington 92.19 4   USA Larry Butler 90.39 11 ENG Shayne Burgess 85.41 7 1 ENG Dennis Priestley 91.59 12 USA Larry Butler 92.70 16 5 ENG Rod Harrington 11 ENG Shayne Burgess 9 References Category:World Matchplay (darts) Category:1990s in Lancashire World Matchplay Darts Category:1994 in English sport Category:August 1994 sports events in the United Kingdom