An All-Welsh Final, and Revenge for 2022
Clayton and Price served up an all-Welsh final in front of the Auckland crowd, and it was “The Ferret” who came out on top 8-4 to lift the title. The result carries extra weight given the history between the two: back in 2022, Price beat Clayton by the exact same 8-4 scoreline in the final of the same event, then played in Hamilton. Four years on, Clayton flipped the result on its head.
“I’ve got the runners-up trophy at home, now we’ve got a champions trophy,” Clayton said afterwards, reflecting on turning that 2022 defeat into a title.
Clayton’s Route to the Title
Clayton had to get through the tournament’s top seed to even reach the final. He beat Gian van Veen 6-3 in the quarter-final, before beating James Wade 7-2 in the semi-final to book his spot opposite Price.
Jonny Clayton — Finals Day, New Zealand Darts Masters 2026
It’s a significant week for Van Veen too, even in defeat — he arrived in Auckland as the tournament’s top seed, and remains one of the leading contenders in the PDC Order of Merit conversation heading into the rest of the season.
What It Means for the Season
The New Zealand Darts Masters is the latest leg of the PDC’s World Series of Darts, played without Luke Littler, Luke Humphries or Michael van Gerwen, all of whom sat the Auckland leg out — see our field preview for the full picture of who made the trip. Prize money and ranking points from the event feed into both the PDC Order of Merit and the 2026 World Series of Darts standings, which decide the majority of places at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam this September.
The World Series moves on to the Australian Darts Masters next, 21-22 August, before the circuit regroups in Amsterdam. Track how Clayton, Price and the rest of the field stack up on the live PDC Order of Merit.