2025 US Darts Masters review: PDC’s best turn on the style in NYC

The 2025 US Darts Masters in New York was a real feast of top-class action for watching fans. From those catching the play in person at Madison Square Garden to the people streaming/watching games from further afield, it was a spectacular competition to enjoy.

Although eventual winner Luke Humphries generated the most headlines with his sensational final victory, this was a PDC tournament with much more to it. Let’s round up what happened and explore what this could tell us for next month’s Australian Darts Masters.

It’s fair to say that the opening batch of games really got fans excited and got the markets for darts betting online moving. This is no surprise because the odds given for players to win competitions like this always change, depending on how matches go.

The standout clash for many was US player Danny Lauby’s 6-0 win over defending champion Rob Cross. Although Cross didn’t play anywhere near his best, Lauby excelled to obliterate his opponent. This included averaging 94 and scoring a 118 on checkout!

Other notable results in this first round involved Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. Littler turned on the style to breeze past Jules van Dongen 6-1 and sealed the last leg with a 120 checkout. Humphries struggled more in his opening game and had to come back from 4-3 down to beat Stowe Buntz.

Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen easily made it through this round and showed signs of being in fine form.

The atmosphere inside Madison Square Garden moved up another level when the quarter-finals kicked into gear. This was despite both North American players involved losing their games. Jason Brandon’s 6-0 loss to Damon Heta in particular was especially galling.

The pick of this round’s games though was Luke Littler against Nathan Aspinall. This was a close encounter that ended up 6-4 to Aspinall. The quality of this game is obvious when you remember that Littler averaged almost 109 in defeat.

The semi-finals for this tournament were:

 ·        Nathan Aspinall v Damon Heta

·        Luke Humphries v Gerwyn Price

In his semi, Aspinall kept his cool and clinched a 7-3 win to move into the final. This was despite Heta playing well and hitting a 170 checkout at one point!

Eventual champion Luke Littler also tasted victory and beat Gerwyn Price 7-2. Although things were even at 2-2, Littler turned on the gas to hit a five-leg winning streak. His sheer relentlessness combined with Price’s inconsistency proved crucial. Humphries also showed his awesome scoring power in this match and clocked up regular 140-plus visits.

To say that the final ended up being one of the most thrilling you’ll ever see is an understatement. Both Aspinall and Humphries played their best darts to put on a show for watching fans. In the end, Humphries took the title with an 8-6 win.

He came out of the blocks like a steam train and raced to a dominant 3-0 lead. It looked like he would cruise to victory at this point, but Aspinall roared back to tie things up at 5-5. This included a 90 checkout on the bullseye to bring things level! His opponent was not deterred and hit a 142 checkout next leg to make it 6-5.

The score then moved on to 7-6 and Aspinall missed two darts to take the game to a decisive leg. Humphries then hit double eight to win the final and take home the prize money.

The next big PDC event is the 2025 Australian Darts Masters and fans will already be looking ahead to who might do well there. A good place to start is analysing what happened in New York and seeing what that suggests.

The most obvious conclusion is that Luke Humphries is on fire and likely to do well again in Australia. His performances in the US showed his mental toughness, scoring power and ability to hit crucial checkouts when needed.

Nathan Aspinall’s performance in New York confirms that he’s looking sharp and will see him heading to Australia with plenty of confidence. Although he went out in the quarter-finals to Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen looked to be in a good place on his return to the sport and will be one to watch in Australia.

As the above shows, the recent Darts Masters in the US was a fabulous tournament and one that all darts fans enjoyed. With the Australian Masters coming up soon, what happened in Madison Square Garden gives an indication of what could happen there.