ANALYSIS: How Cameron Menzies went from updating his CV to beating Luke Humphries

Cameron Menzies reached the second round of the World Matchplay for the first time in his career. Going 2-1 up, the match was abruptly ended by health issues surrounding high blood pressure that made the Scotsman feel faint on stage. The match was subsequently suspended, and Ross Smith went through to the quarter-finals.

Beating Luke Humphries in the first round with a 170 finish, this result has personified his rebuild after his incident in the 2026 World Darts Championship against Charlie Manby. Qualifying handsomely for this tournament and beating the World Number Two after submitting his CV, this rebuild is one of darts' greatest stories in 2026. Was this a one-off incident for this rebuild, or was it a long-overdue build-up that has led to the World Number 26's best result in his career?

After reaching the 2022 BDO World Championship semi-finals, Menzies entered Q-School for the fifth time and secured his tour card for the first time in his career. Working as a plumber, Menzies impressed in his first year, winning 58% of his games and averaging a solid 92.13, reaffirming his position in the PDC after 15 years in the BDO.

Although no Players Championship run beyond the Last 16, five appearances at this stage is solid progression in the PDC and sustaining this across the whole year, Menzies transitioned from an unknown entity to a solid operator. In this debut year, he was consistently beating the top stars in tour events, including Price 6-1 twice, Michael Van Gerwen and Luke Humphries, all in his first year on tour.

It was obvious he was a top player in the making; he just didn’t have the time to commit. His talent is undoubted, but with a plumbing gig on the side, a trip to Leicester on a Tuesday sacrifices this job in search of a dream. He told Online Darts in December 2022 that “hopefully one day I can put the tools down and take this full time”, showing the dream was laid out, but unfortunately, his debut year only produced £45,250 in prize money.

Crossroads emerged, but there were huge roadworks in between. Emotions. Always showing passion, the Cammies’ performances are often affected, and the consequences he deals with from these hinder his career. “I do believe if I want to become a top player I need to learn how to deal with those consequences and push forward”, he said in the aforementioned interview, showing top-class self-awareness, but rookie actions to counter this.

After learning the ropes in his debut year, many thought in 2023 Menzies would push forward. On the surface, a stronger average of 93.70 and his first win at Alexandra Palace against Rusty Jake Rodriguez show signs of improvement. Adding to this, a 114.58 average against Rob Cross in 2023 is the highest average in his career, but this wasn’t over the whole year. A 51% win percentage shows a figure on a coin flip to losing every game he won, and on tour, this doesn’t guarantee Menzies a position where quitting his plumbing job is an option.

Reaching his first tour semi-final whilst averaging 106.61 on the way, his performances on tour are strong, and he was now obliged to transition this onto the stage to keep his tour card. This didn’t come easy, unfortunately. In his Players Championship final debut in 2022, he beat 6-3 Josh Rock in the first round with a strong 98.84 average, and this proved to be his best result to date. Losing in the second round, the 2023 edition saw a disappointing loss to Rob Cross, averaging 88.66. Although his BDO days saw valuable stage experience, whether this was at Lakeside or in the Masters, the PDC felt different to Menzies at this stage, where the lights shone brighter, and the viewership was higher; Menzies crumbled.

A 114.58 average against Cross at Players Championship 19 translated to 88.66 on stage. Although this is comparing a bad day and a good day, a blinding 25.92-point discrepancy can’t be blamed on whether it was his day. He was beating quality players on tour, but underperforms against lower-quality opponents when it matters most. His best tour performance in 2022 was 101.64; in 2023, it was 114.58. His best stage average in 2022 was 98.84; in 2023, it was 92.21. Improved on tour but declined on TV, and although he acknowledged this in 2022, his actions show the opposite. During 2023, his first nine sat at 102.31, and a checkout percentage of 36.73% is solid, but it doesn’t mean enough when he can’t convert when it matters. He got three chances on TV in 2023 and underperformed his seasonal average in all three matches. How does the peak smooth out this translation?

2024 proved his first two years on tour weren’t a fluke; they were foundations. The Scotsman exploded in 2024, winning 69% of his games and sitting inside the top twenty in every metric. He broke ground, winning his first PDC title at the Players Championship 29 to consolidate what was his best year on tour. Beating Bunting 8-4 in the final with a quite poor 93.84 average, but that wasn’t the result of the tournament. Rob Cross was beaten, averaging 107.73 on the way to the title, with Plaisier dispatched at 107.97, showing levels on a day when the Scotsman made his mark on the PDC.

In 2022 and 2023, Menzies rarely made it past the last 16, only achieving one quarter-final. Menzies made quarter-finals look routine in 2024, achieving two semi-final runs and four separate quarter-finals. When it all closed, there were doubts over this year. £144,500 nearly tripling his 2023 figure in a single year, and Menzies seemed to be the frontrunner in promoting this idea. In December 2024, he told OnlineDarts, “I don’t know if this is a one-year wonder. I hope it’s not”.

After an elite year, his mindset wasn’t elite. He wasn’t ready to step up, and his World Championships exposed this. 3-1 loss to American Leonard Gates, with an 83.77 average, 12.08 points below his seasonal average. There weren’t any doubts about form anymore, as his performances had put him in pole position as one of the most exciting players to watch in 2024. Not just this, a Grand Slam quarter-final seemed to show the transition was strong. Beating James Wade 10-9 in the last 16 and qualifying out of a group with Noppert, Schindler and Beau Greaves was impressive.

Yet, behind Menzies' successes is a lingering doubt. A 91.02 average for the Grand Slam tournament showed, although tangibly, he had reached the last eight of a major tournament; realistically, he had been beaten by Micky Mansell and had a real chance to reach the semi-final if he’d just played similar to his usual form level.

This might explain the TV outbursts. They aren’t an outcry of short-term emotion over losing a game or winning a huge game; they are an overdue explosion of all the lingering doubts in Menzies’ mind. He was the only player to raise the point that his year might have been a fluke, and this led into the Gates performance, where he was beaten by the American who averaged 82.96.

On floor, that’s a 6-0 win. These bursts are a buildup of internal frustration that he couldn’t afford going into 2025 and 2026. In 2025, more success came on the floor. Another title in the form of Players Championship 11 and two finals, as well as a semi-final; 2024 wasn’t a fluke year, just the start of the modern Menzies. Despite this, the real focus is always on TV majors. TV majors are what make or break a dart player.

The 37-year-old found mixed form, and unfortunately, it ended in disaster. Averaging 92.76 in 2025 showed signs he dropped off; some TV performances actually showed considerable progression. He went one better in the UK Open, reaching the last 32 before losing to James Wade 10-9 after agonisingly missing five match darts, which may show signs of breaking down, but to be 9-7 up on TV against Wade, who eventually reached the final, is a clear positive.

The World Matchplay was a dip, losing 2-10 and barely scratching Noppert, and with a bust of 178 by missing an 180, the confidence going into the Grand Prix would be shattered. However, he reached the quarter-final after defeating Dobey and Cross in the first two rounds before losing to eventual finalist Humphries. This narrative presents that although Menzies has suffered setbacks on TV, his bounce-back to reach the quarter-final in a tricky Grand Prix format is nothing short of impressive. Therefore, going into the World Championships, many saw his first round tie against young prodigy Charlie Manby as one of the ties of the round, yet it ended up being one for all the wrong reasons.

A 3-2 loss and a well-documented breakdown in punching the table filled the expectations of many darts fans when it comes to Menzies. It proved nothing had changed to many, and Menzies believed it himself despite all the positive progression. Millions of views saw Menzies psychologically and mentally break down, and he received the abuse he’d start to believe he deserved. After losing his Uncle Gary and a relationship breakdown that was well documented, the first-round tie against Manby had the writing for Menzies to come out the stronger man.

Comments came from pundits who didn’t know the reasons. Simon Jordan saw him as ill; fans demanded a ban or fine. Menzies exposed his feelings openly, describing, “I kind of fell out with the sport… when I needed the sport I got slandered”, he told Assendelft Media BV, and with the hand injury impacting his ability to throw a dart, the aftermath showed something had to change. He’d quit his job for darts, and after just months, he’d updated his CV to quit darts again. This story isn't about darts; it's a personification of imposter syndrome over an accumulation of unguided psychological breakdowns. After this, he saw a sports psychologist and began working on his mental and physical strength. Dropping three stones, and after three months, his throwing action was back. This wasn’t without crisis.

In the first four months of 2026, Menzies was averaging below tour standard at 90.68, his lowest ever on the PDC tour. In his first seven Players Championship events, he had won three games. Career low figures were present, with a low in deciding leg averages, checkout percentages and functional double percentage.

Nothing positive came out. “I thought I was done”, he told the PDC. The psychological and mental trauma of presenting himself to millions and personal upheaval at the most critical moment now transcended to every event on the calendar. Throwing darts at professional standard is hard enough, but when your hand is numb, Menzies had every reason to believe it was worth quitting. Public criticism followed even months after the incident. Losing averages of 71.36 against Weber, 79.20 against Kanik and 82.68 against Hood. He wasn’t competitive. He was the player people hoped to draw. This changed after April.

Menzies' average increased by three points in April, and results started to come. Qualifying for European tours, Menzies eventually reached a semi-final in Riesa, and although a 0-7 loss was shattering, he had beaten Rock and Wade to get there and that in itself is a result after the aforementioned losses at the start of 2026.

Eventually, he had his moment of recovery. Players Championship 23. His third PDC title. This one meant the most, because it finally showed he had recovered to full form. He told the PDC, “I thought I was done. I made a mistake... Two or three months ago I was putting my CV back up; it's legit true... I genuinely thought my darts were spiralling. I never thought I'd win one of these again."

Not enough people are talking about this in being one of modern-day darts' biggest comebacks ever. He couldn’t throw a dart. He had lost one of his most important family members. But with the help of sports psychology and mental grit, he had returned to representing Scotland at the World Cup of Darts in the space of six months.

If darts needed a poster boy to show how sports psychology can be used effectively, Menzies would be first pick. From averaging 71 in February to 108 in May, Menzies was back. He told Assendeflt Media BV at the World Cup, “Not many can say they’ve played with Gary Anderson in the World Cup… it’s living a dream”. A dream was a nightmare in January, but in June it was lucid.

Luke Humphries came in as the second favourite for the World Matchplay. Defending £200,000 from winning the title in 2024 and coming into Winter Gardens in hot form, many tipped the Newbury man to win the title. His first nine was 112.00, and his average was 101.83 going into the tournament.

Menzies wasn’t sniffed, with odds at 35/1 for him to win on the seaside. He didn’t just win; he won with a 170 finish and with a solid 97.83 average, finally translating tour performance onto the TV stage when the cameras shone bright. This is not just a comeback; it is the resolution of the one problem that had defined his entire career since his appearance at Alexandra Palace in December 2022. The stage versus floor gap that was visible from the very beginning has, for one night at least, closed. Whether it stays closed is the question the rest of his career will answer.