Van Gerwen follows in footsteps of three former World Matchplay champions with average statistic

Michael van Gerwen won the World Matchplay for the third time in his career last Sunday. Mighty Mike beat Gerwyn Price 18-14 in the final.

However he had a rough start to the tournament. He won the first round 10-7 against Adrian Lewis however it was a game where he hit an average of only 89.99.

Van Gerwen is only the fourth tournament winner to have started the tournament with an average of under ninety. Larry Butler was the first at the very first edition in 1994. He started the event with an average of 83.61 per turn. Later followed Peter Evison (88.70 in 1996) and James Wade (88.88 in 2007).

Incidentally, Van Gerwen has managed to raise his tournament average quite a bit with his remaining four matches. His tournament average ended at 98.62.