"In my opinion, I prefer it" – World Darts Championship comes a surprising second for Jonny Clayton

Jonny Clayton is back. Not that he was ever truly gone, but on the eve of the Winmau World Masters 2026 the Welshman exudes renewed confidence. During media day, “The Ferret” looks ahead to the new darts year with a relaxed yet sharp focus, a season in which he is once again part of the Premier League lineup and hopes to build on a strong, yet inconsistent 2025.

“I feel good. My darts are good, so the consistency is getting back to where it should be,” Clayton says to talkSPORT. “My darts are going pretty well, so yeah, I’m looking forward to this.”

The Winmau World Masters holds special meaning for Clayton. Last year he reached the final, where he ultimately had to bow to Luke Humphries. Still, he looks back on that tournament with great pleasure.

“It was a great tournament for me last year in 2025,” he says. “Okay, I lost to Luke in the final, but the only thing I could have done better was win the trophy. Last year was brilliant and hopefully I can do the same this year — maybe go one better. I love it.”

The World Masters format, with short matches in a best-of-three legs and best-of-five sets setup, appeals to Clayton.

“It’s a challenge for us all. It’s a different kind of challenge — best of three legs, best of five sets,” he explains. “It’s difficult, but you can lose a set and win one straight back, so it’s good for us all.”

Clayton is known as a player who thrives in set play, and he feels this format gives players a chance to recover.

“If it’s legs and somebody goes four-nil up, first to six, you’re in trouble,” he says. “But with sets, you do get a chance to get back into it.”

It’s no surprise he rewatched last year’s final. Clayton is selective about what he analyses.

“Yeah, I have watched it back, because I think it was a good game,” he says. “If I don’t think I’ve played well, I won’t watch it back. But it was an exciting game, a good little game, so yeah, I watched it back.”

According to him, the key moment came on the doubles.

“I went for double top just to stay in it — I think I went inside,” he recalls. “But never mind, that’s the way darts goes. You try your best, and if it’s not good enough on the day, you try again. I’ll be trying again this year.”

The recent World Championship also came up. Clayton fell in the quarter-finals after a defeat to Ryan Searle, with his campaign disrupted by an unusually long break following Dom Taylor’s disqualification.

“Yes, definitely,” Clayton says. “Especially in previous years, I usually play on the 23rd, the last day before Christmas, and then I’m back on again. So I’m used to being in the tournament.”

“It was my first time experiencing such a long break, and obviously with what happened with Dom, it was extra time off. It was different, but at the end of the day, once you put your foot on that stage, you have a job to do, and that’s what you’ve got to concentrate on.”

He does not shy away from where it went wrong. “Against Ryan, to be fair to him, he didn’t miss doubles,” Clayton admits. “I think I had ten from forty on the doubles, and that’s definitely not good enough in a World Championship quarter-final.”

“I let myself down. I was starting to get back into the game scoring-wise, but I couldn’t finish. I was putting myself under pressure all the time and Ryan did his job. To be fair, he’s a fantastic player.”

Clayton was tested earlier in the tournament too, with tough matches against Niels Zonneveld and Andreas Harrysson.

“Unbelievable,” he says. “When I played Andreas, I had to play the top of my darts because he wasn’t going to let me off. Same with Niels — I know Niels because he’s on tour, so I had a bit more knowledge of him.”

“With Andreas, I didn’t know anything about him. All I saw was what he’d done in the previous two matches, and that was difficult from my point of view.”

Harrysson’s subsequent failure to secure a Tour Card surprised him.

“For him not to get a Tour Card is unbelievable,” Clayton says. “A player of that standard and capability — it just shows the talent pool is insane.”

His compatriot and good friend Gerwyn Price also came up, though darts is rarely the focus of their conversations.

“We talk, but we don’t really talk much about darts to be honest — it’s rugby, building, whatever,” Clayton laughs.

Price’s defeat to Wesley Plaisier was, in his view, another reminder of darts’ unpredictability.

“If you were a betting man, you’d probably put your money on Gezzy because he’s one of the best, isn’t he?” he says. “But Wesley did his job. That’s what it is — it’s all about doing your job on the day.”

One of the highlights of Clayton’s winter was confirmation that he would once again be part of the Premier League Darts lineup.

“I was building a man cave on the side of the house,” he smiles. “I was in my wellies, running in to watch the announcement.”

“About ten minutes before, my manager phoned me and said, ‘Right, good news, you’re in.’ I thought, well that’s a bit disappointing because you’ve told me before the announcement!”

The reaction was still unmistakable. “Once he said I was back in, the smile on my face was massive,” Clayton says. “I love it. I think it’s the best tournament of all. You’re playing against the eight in-form players — if not the eight best players in the world. It’s a challenge and it’s exciting.”

Clayton even admits he prefers it to the sport’s biggest title.

“In my opinion, I prefer it to the Worlds,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind winning the World Championship, don’t get me wrong, but I just love the Premier League.”

“It’s sixteen weeks of hard graft against players who are hitting 180s for fun. That’s where you want to be. If you’re part of that, you’re doing something right.”

Although Clayton is still chasing a world title, his enjoyment of the game shines through. The conversation ends on a lighter note, with talk turning back to the man cave.

“There’ll be no pool table — I can’t bend down far enough to look down the table!” he laughs. “No snooker either — Gezzy would beat me at that. The dartboard’s going in, and maybe a golf simulator, but that’s it.”