# Jonny Clayton

Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number five. Nicknamed "the Ferret", he has won four major single titles, all in 2021: the Masters, Premier League, World Series Finals and World Grand Prix. He has also won the PDC World Cup of Darts on two occasions in 2020 and 2023, representing Wales alongside Gerwyn Price.
He has finished as runner-up at the 2017 Players Championship Finals, 2023 World Matchplay and the 2025 World Masters. He is a one-time world championship quarter-finalist, reaching the last eight at the 2023 PDC World Championship.

## Career
### 2015

Clayton joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2015 after winning a Tour Card on the final day of Qualifying School. His first quarter-final came at the sixth Players Championship event and he lost 6–1 to Benito van de Pas. Clayton qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts later that year, but despite winning his opening match against Terry Jenkins, he went on to finish bottom of his group.

### 2016

Clayton's first appearance at the UK Open came in the 2016 edition, but he was defeated 6–3 by James Wilson in the second round. Clayton recorded a quarter-final showing at the eighth Players Championship and reached his first semi-final at the 12th event, but was whitewashed 6–0 by Gary Anderson. A 2–0 victory over Tony Darlow saw Clayton claim the non-ranking Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions title. He lost 6–3 to Darren Webster in round one of the Players Championship Finals.

### 2017

Clayton made his PDC World Championship debut in the 2017 event, and came from a set down to beat fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 3–1 in the first round. He lost 4–1 to Ian White in the second round.
Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6–1 in the final.
Clayton got to his first PDC major final at the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Jeffrey de Graaf, Price, Stephen Bunting, Steve Beaton and number 1 seed Rob Cross, before losing out to Michael van Gerwen.

### 2018

His run to the final saw him break into the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit, meaning that he was a seed at the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, where he was eliminated by fellow countryman Jamie Lewis.
He went on to win the 2018 Austrian Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price 8–5 in the final. This meant that he was the first Welsh winner on the PDC European Tour.

### 2019

Clayton won Players Championship 10 by defeating Gabriel Clemens 8–4 in the final. This was Jonny's 3rd ranking title.

### 2020: World Cup Champion

At this point a three-time PDC ranking title winner, Clayton was selected as a 'challenger' for the 2020 Premier League night in Cardiff, but lost 7–1 to an inspired Michael Smith.
Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10–6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters.
He went on to win the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts for Wales with Gerwyn Price as his teammate, defeating the English side of Rob Cross and Michael Smith 3–0.

### 2021: First individual major title, Premier League and Grand Prix champion

At the Masters Clayton beat José de Sousa, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright en route to the final where he faced Mervyn King. Clayton won the match 11–8 to win his first major individual televised title. In his match against Wade, he was successful in checking out 10 times out of 11 for a success rate of 91%, which the PDC claimed to be a possible world record.
He won two Players Championship events, PC4 and PC7 early in 2021.
Upon winning the Masters tournament, Clayton was invited to participate in the 2021 Premier League Darts, where on the third night of his debut season he hit a nine-dart finish on the way to beating José de Sousa.
After the fifth evening of league action, Clayton was placed at the top of the league. He slipped to as low as 8th, before going into 4th position for night 16. He had to achieve at least a draw to secure his place in the playoffs. He managed to do so and won his game against Dimitri Van den Bergh winning 8–6.
In the playoffs he beat Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in their semi-final. He went on to defeat José de Sousa 11–5 in the final. In doing so he became the first Welsh winner of the Premier League and the first player to finish 4th in the league phase and win the title.
Clayton participated in the World Grand Prix in which he reached the final after beating Callan Rydz, José de Sousa, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert along the way. In the final Clayton prevailed over World No. 1 Gerwyn Price with a 5–1 victory winning him his third major tournament of the year. Three weeks later, Clayton picked up his fourth TV title of the year with an 11–6 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals.

### 2022

At the 2022 World Championship, Clayton reached the fourth round where he lost to eventual finalist Michael Smith 4–3. He reached the semi-finals of the Masters but was unable to defend his title, losing 11–6 to runner-up Dave Chisnall.
Clayton entered the 2022 Premier League as defending champion and secured qualification for the play-offs following his night 13 win in Glasgow. He finished first in the league phase with four nightly wins. He faced fourth-placed Joe Cullen in the play-off semi-finals and lost 10–4.
The Welsh team of Clayton and Gerwyn Price reached the final of the World Cup of Darts but were defeated 3–1 by Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock of Australia. Clayton won his first World Series of Darts title at the New South Wales Darts Masters in Wollongong, beating James Wade 8–1 in the final.

### 2023

At the 2023 World Championship, Clayton whitewashed Danny van Trijp 3–0 in his second-round tie, then defeated Brendan Dolan 4–1 in the third round before beating Josh Rock 4–3 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in his career. He lost his quarter-final match to Dimitri Van den Bergh 5–3.
Clayton was selected for the Premier League following his world championship campaign. He achieved back-to-back nightly wins on night nine and night ten, defeating reigning world champion Michael Smith in the final of night nine before adding another final win over Peter Wright the next week. He qualified for the play-offs by finishing in fourth place in the league phase. This meant he faced league leader Gerwyn Price in the play-off semi-finals, who defeated Clayton 10–2.
In June, Clayton teamed with Price at the World Cup of Darts, with the Welsh pair winning their second World Cup title after a 10–2 victory over Scotland (Peter Wright and Gary Anderson) in the final. The next month, Clayton reached the final of the World Matchplay but suffered a 18–6 defeat to Nathan Aspinall.

### 2024

At the 2024 World Championship, Clayton won his second-round match 3–1 against Steve Lennon, then defeated Krzysztof Ratajski before being whitewashed 4–0 by Rob Cross in the fourth round. He reached the final of the Dutch Darts Championship in May, but lost 8–4 to Josh Rock. In July, he won his only title of the year at Players Championship 14 by defeating Wesley Plaisier 8–5 in the final.

### 2025

Clayton reached the fourth round of the 2025 World Championship, where he was defeated by Gerwyn Price 4–2.
Clayton produced his highest televised three-dart average in his first-round match against Martin Schindler at the World Masters, averaging 112.77 to beat Schindler 3–1 in sets. He reached the final of the tournament, where he faced Luke Humphries. Clayton recovered from 5–2 down to level the match at 5–5, but ultimately lost 6–5 in a deciding leg. He defeated Gary Anderson and Michael Smith en route to the semi-finals of the UK Open, where he lost 11–6 to Luke Littler. This run saw him rise to world number five on the PDC Order of Merit.

## World Championship results
### PDC

* 2017: Second round (lost to Ian White 1–4)
* 2018: First round (lost to Jamie Lewis 0–3)
* 2019: Second round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 1–3)
* 2020: Third round (lost to Stephen Bunting 0–4)
* 2021: Third round (lost to Joe Cullen 3–4)
* 2022: Fourth round (lost to Michael Smith 3–4)
* 2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 3–5)
* 2024: Fourth round (lost to Rob Cross 0–4)
* 2025: Fourth round (lost to Gerwyn Price 2–4)

## Career finals
### PDC major finals: 7 (4 titles)

* Legend
* World Matchplay (0–1)
* Premier League (1–0)
* World Grand Prix (1–0)
* World Masters (1–1)
* Players Championship Finals (0–1)
* World Series of Darts Finals (1–0)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | Players Championship Finals | Michael van Gerwen | 2–11 (l) |
| Winner | 1. | 2021 | The Masters | Mervyn King | 11–8 (l) |
| Winner | 2. | 2021 | Premier League | José de Sousa | 11–5 (l) |
| Winner | 3. | 2021 | World Grand Prix | Gerwyn Price | 5–1 (s) |
| Winner | 4. | 2021 | World Series of Darts Finals | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 11–6 (l) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2023 | World Matchplay | Nathan Aspinall | 6–18 (l) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2025 | World Masters | Luke Humphries | 5–6 (s) |

### PDC team finals: 3 (2 titles)

| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Country | Teammate | Opponents in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 2020 | World Cup of Darts | Wales | Gerwyn Price | England – Michael Smith and Rob Cross | 3–0 (m) |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | World Cup of Darts | Wales | Gerwyn Price | Australia – Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock | 1–3 (m) |
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | World Cup of Darts | Wales | Gerwyn Price | Scotland – Peter Wright and Gary Anderson | 10–2 (l) |

### PDC World Series finals: 2 (1 title)

| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 2022 | New South Wales Darts Masters | James Wade | 8–1 (l) |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | New Zealand Darts Masters | Gerwyn Price | 4–8 (l) |

## Career statistics

Performance Table Legend :
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | NYF | Not yet founded |

### Performance timeline

| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| PDC Ranked televised events ||||||||||||
| World Championship | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 4R | QF | 4R | 4R |
| World Masters | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | QF | W | SF | QF | 1R | F |
| UK Open | 1R | 2R | 3R | 4R | 5R | SF | 6R | 6R | 6R | 6R | SF |
| World Matchplay | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | 2R | |
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | W | 2R | 1R | QF | |
| European Championship | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | |
| Grand Slam | RR | DNQ | DNQ | QF | DNQ | 2R | QF | 2R | RR | DNQ | |
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | F | QF | 1R | 2R | SF | SF | 2R | 1R | |
| PDC Non-ranked televised events ||||||||||||
| Premier League | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | C | W | SF | SF | DNP | DNP |
| World Cup | DNP | DNP | DNP | QF | 1R | W | SF | F | W | 2R | |
| World Series Finals | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | QF | DNQ | W | SF | 2R | 1R | |
| Career statistics ||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 74 | 60 | 31 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 2015 | GDC DNP | GDT DNP | GDM DNQ | DDM 1R | IDO 2R | EDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDM DNQ | EDG 2R |
| 2016 | DDM DNQ | GDM DNQ | GDT DNQ | EDM 2R | ADO 2R | EDO 2R | IDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDG 3R | GDC DNQ |
| 2017 | GDC DNQ | GDM 2R | GDO DNQ | EDG 2R | GDT 2R | EDM DNQ | ADO 2R | EDO DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDG DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDT 3R |
| 2018 | EDO 1R | GDG 2R | GDO DNQ | ADO W | EDG DNQ | DDM 1R | GDT QF | DDO 2R | EDM 2R | GDC 2R | DDC 2R | IDO 3R | EDT 3R |
| 2019 | EDO 3R | GDC 3R | GDG 2R | GDO 2R | ADO 2R | EDG 3R | DDM 2R | DDO SF | CDO 2R | ADC 2R | EDM QF | IDO 3R | GDT 2R |
| 2020 | BDC 1R | GDC F | EDG DNQ | IDO DNQ |
| 2021 | HDT 2R | GDT 2R |
| 2022 | IDO SF | GDC QF | GDG QF | ADO 3R | EDO 3R | CDO 2R | EDG 3R | DDC DNP | EDM 2R | HDT 2R | GDO 3R | BDO SF | GDT 3R |
| 2023 | BSD SF | EDO 2R | IDO QF | GDG 2R | ADO W | DDC 2R | BDO QF | CDO QF | EDG 2R | EDM 2R | GDO DNP | HDT 3R | GDC 2R |
| 2024 | BDO QF | GDG 2R | IDO 2R | EDG 3R | ADO 3R | BSD 2R | DDC F | EDO WD | GDC 2R | FDT 1R | HDT 2R | SDT 1R | CDO QF |
| 2025 | BDO QF | EDT | IDO | GDG | ADO | EDG | DDC | EDO | BSD | FDT | CDO | HDT | SDT | GDC |
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 2015 | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | COV QF | COV 1R | COV 2R | CRA 1R | CRA 3R | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | COV 2R | COV 1R |
| 2016 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | COV QF | COV 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R |
| 2017 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | WIG 4R | WIG QF | MIL QF | MIL QF | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | BAR QF | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | DUB 1R | DUB 1R | BAR 3R | BAR W |
| 2018 | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL 2R | MIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG QF | WIG F | MIL 1R | MIL QF | WIG QF | WIG 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | DUB 2R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2019 | WIG QF | WIG SF | WIG 1R | WIG 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | WIG 3R | WIG SF | BAR 1R | BAR W | BAR QF | BAR QF | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | HIL 4R | HIL 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | DUB 2R | DUB 4R | BAR 4R | BAR QF |
| 2020 | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | WIG 3R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL 3R | MIL QF | MIL 4R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | NIE 1R | NIE 2R | NIE 2R | NIE 4R | NIE 2R | COV 3R | COV 2R | COV 4R | COV QF | COV 2R |
| 2021 | BOL F | BOL F | BOL QF | BOL W | MIL 2R | MIL 3R | MIL W | MIL 1R | NIE DNP | NIE DNP | NIE DNP | NIE DNP | MIL SF | MIL 3R | MIL QF | MIL 4R | COV 4R | COV 4R | COV 4R | COV 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR F | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR QF |
| 2022 | BAR QF | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | NIE DNP | NIE DNP | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR QF | BAR 4R | WIG DNP | WIG DNP | NIE DNP | NIE 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | BAR F | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR DNP | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R |
| 2023 | BAR SF | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | WIG SF | WIG 4R | LEI 1R | LEI W | HIL DNP | HIL DNP | LEI QF | LEI QF | HIL DNP | HIL DNP | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR QF | BAR SF | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R |
| 2024 | WIG 1R | WIG 3R | LEI 3R | LEI 4R | HIL 4R | HIL 4R | LEI 1R | LEI 4R | HIL 3R | HIL 3R | HIL DNP | HIL DNP | MIL QF | MIL W | MIL 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | WIG 3R | WIG 4R | LEI QF | LEI QF | WIG 3R | WIG 3R | WIG DNP | WIG QF | WIG QF | LEI 1R | LEI F |
| 2025 | WIG 4R | WIG 3R | ROS 4R | ROS 1R | LEI 3R | LEI 1R | HIL DNP | HIL DNP | LEI | LEI | LEI | LEI | ROS | ROS | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | HIL | HIL | MIL | MIL | MIL | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG |
PDC World Series of Darts
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 2021 | NOR SF |
| 2022 | USA QF | NOR DNP | DUT 1R | QUE 1R | NSW W | NZE F |
| 2023 | BAH QF | NOR SF | USA DNP | POL DNP | NSW DNP | NZE DNP |
Performance Table Legend :
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | NYF | Not yet founded |

## Nine-dart finishes

Jonny Clayton's televised nine-dart finishes :
| Date | Opponent | Tournament | Method |
| 7 March 2020 | Chris Dobey | UK Open | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 |
| 7 April 2021 | José de Sousa | Premier League | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 |