“I would probably take a significant pay cut” – Matt Edgar says 100 averages and Las Vegas final have not tempted PDC return

Matt Edgar returned from Las Vegas having done more than enough to restart an old conversation about his future as a player.

The former PDC Tour Card holder reached the quarter-finals of the WDF World Masters and then went one stage further at the World Open, losing a deciding-leg final to Moreno Blom. Across 17 matches, Edgar averaged around 90, recorded several displays in the high 90s and beyond and hit more 180s than anyone else in the World Masters field.

It was an unusually substantial week of competitive darts for a player whose career is now built predominantly around commentary and media work. Edgar does not play league, county or pub darts and says much of his limited practice comes while producing videos for Edgar TV.

“I would describe Vegas as a roaring success on every front for me personally,” Edgar told Bang on Target. “My darts went really well, probably more than I expected when I played 17 matches and I averaged around about the 90 mark. For the World Masters I hit the most 180s of anybody in the field, which is unusual for me because I don’t really hit a lot of 180s.”

Edgar’s Las Vegas results were not built on months of tournament preparation. He described himself as not even a recreational player and arrived in Nevada without the competitive routine usually expected of someone challenging deep into two international events.

“I don’t even play pub darts, Super League, county tournaments, don’t play anything,” he said. “My practice is bare minimum, if anything. Just when I’m making content, I’m practising.”

Injury problems have required Edgar to make considerable changes to his throw. Reduced movement in his wrist forced him to transfer more of the action into his shoulder, lower his elbow and alter his throwing angles, while also allowing him to return to the slim flights he previously used.

The reconstructed action held together throughout a demanding schedule in Las Vegas. Edgar estimated that his checkout percentage remained around 42 per cent for much of the week, while his scoring included a number of averages which would have been competitive on the professional circuit.

Those performances made another Q School question unavoidable. Edgar held a PDC Tour Card during three separate spells and last competed as a card holder in 2021, but has remained visible enough within the sport for the prospect of a return to follow every notable result.

“Q School’s the golden question that just keeps coming up time and time again,” he said. “I think because I’ve put in a couple of 98 averages and 100 averages, it shows that the level is there, and the ability is there.”

Edgar does not doubt that he can still produce matches of that standard. His reservation concerns the frequency required across a full season, where isolated peaks count for little without the ability to repeat them through successive ProTours and qualification events.

“My top end’s fine. Everyone’s top end’s fine. Everyone’s got the ability,” he said. “But it’s how often you can bring that out that is the issue. And on the tour, it needs to be time and time and time again.”

Edgar has considered whether a limited return could work. Rather than committing himself to the complete ProTour calendar, he has contemplated regaining a card and targeting selected opportunities such as the UK Open and World Championship qualifiers.

“Of course I’ve been tempted,” he admitted. “I’ve even been tempted to look at it and go, well what if I did it and just did the UK Open and the Masters and the World Championship qualifiers?”

The difficulty is that a Tour Card would bring obligations and conflicts even without Edgar attempting to play every available event. His working life has changed considerably since his final season on the circuit, with commentary now providing both his main professional direction and a more reliable source of income.

“Would I like to be a tour card holder again? No,” Edgar said. “I don’t see a benefit of being a tour card holder for me personally in my circumstances. If anything, I would probably take a significant pay cut to be able to do so. I’ve got used to a lifestyle now where if I go to work, I get paid and I don’t want to come away from that.”

That calculation reflects the reality faced by players operating outside the upper reaches of the PDC rankings. A Tour Card creates access to the professional circuit, but does not guarantee prize money, while travel, accommodation and time away from other work quickly add to the cost of pursuing it.

For Edgar, the potential loss extends beyond money. Returning to the ProTour would cut across a commentary career he had already been considering during his playing days. “Commentary is actually something I probably wanted to do more than anything,” he said. “Even when I was playing, I was thinking of commentary. Even when I was playing, I was looking at the likes of Wayne Mardle, Chris Mason and Paul Nicholson who made those transitions.”

Edgar has since worked on the MODUS Super Series and across PDC European Tours, ProTours and Women’s Series events, as well as taking on roles with the BBC and appearing alongside Sky Sports. He now wants to develop that work further rather than treat it as a temporary stop before another attempt at professional competition.

The divide between the two roles would also be difficult to manage credibly. Playing one event before moving immediately into the commentary box for another is not a crossover Edgar believes would look right. “Certainly it would affect my commentary work,” he said. “You can’t have someone play one ProTour and then commentate on the next. It’s just not a good look.”

His move behind the microphone has become established enough that Edgar no longer sees “former PDC professional” as the most accurate description of his place in the sport.

“I’ve been doing commentary now for about four years and I work so hard at it,” he said. “Then when I sort of say something and you see these articles go ‘ex-PDC pro’ it’s like, yes, I’m a former professional darts player, but I’m also a current commentator and have been for a period of time. Give me my title.”

Edgar has stopped short of permanently ruling out Q School, but there is no active comeback plan behind his recent results. Las Vegas demonstrated that his competitive level remains higher than his current playing schedule might suggest. It also reinforced the unusual position he now occupies: capable of producing 100 averages, but with far more to lose than gain by rebuilding his life around a Tour Card.

“I don’t see Q School being on the horizon anytime soon,” he said. “I’m not going to say never because you never know what happens. But as things stand, it’s not for me.”

For now, Edgar’s occasional tournament appearances sit alongside the career he is building in commentary rather than pointing towards a return to the PDC circuit. The player remains dangerous; reclaiming that old job simply no longer represents progress.