Steve Beaton won his first PDC title in four years as he shocked Gary Anderson 6-3 in the Players Championship 13 final in Wigan.
The Bronzed Adonis has been waiting for a third title on the PDC circuit since he triumphed at the German Darts Masters back in 2013.
Beaton had earlier defeated Matthew Dennant (6-0), Keegan Brown (6-4) Robert Owen (6-2) , Dave Chisnall (6-4) , Kirk Shepherd (6-0) and Rob Cross en route to his first final since July 2016.
And the 53-year-old made a flying start against Anderson as he took out 125 in the opening leg, before a 12 dart leg gave him a 2-0 lead.
Anderson then missed the bullseye in the third leg to close the gap allowing Beaton to pin double 16 for a 3-0 advantage.
The Flying Scotsman eventually got on the board in the fourth leg with a 12-darter but Beaton again extended his lead in the fifth despite Anderson hitting a fourth maximum.
The pair then held throw with Beaton moving 5-3 ahead and one leg away from the title before finishing the job with an average of 107.09 to claim the £10,000 first prize.
He told the PDC website: "I fancied this today. Ive been trying so hard this year and I’ve played really well today and I’m delighted to win.
"I went to bed last night thinking I want to be in the Matchplay so hopefully this will take me a long way to getting there. Everyone wants to win but maybe I tried that bit harder today."
Anderson was hot favourite to land his third Players Championship crown of the season having scraped past Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 before enjoying more convincing victories over Adam Hunt (6-2), Harry Robinson (6-4), Michael Smith (6-2), Kim Huybrechts (6-0) and Daryl Gurney.
But despite averaging 108 in the final, the Flying Scotsman had no answer to the clinical finishing of the veteran Englishman, who hit six of his nine attempts at doubles.
Peter Wright 6 5 Aden Kirk
Steve Hine 6 1 Terry Roach
Vincent van der Voort 6 3 Zoran Lerchbacher
Andy Boulton 6 3 Yordi Meeuwisse
Rob Cross 6 2 Jan Dekker
Vincent Kamphuis 6 3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Mervyn King 6 4 Kevin Painter
Ryan Searle 6 4 Steve Lennon
Andy Jenkins 6 4 Alan Norris
Ryan Meikle 6 2 Michael Rasztovits
Robert Thornton 6 2 Ronnie Baxter
Mickey Mansell 6 5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jelle Klaasen 6 3 Brian Woods
Tony Newell 6 2 Haruki Muramatsu
Darren Johnson 6 2 Ronny Huybrechts
Jonathan Worsley 6 4 Jim Brown
Dave Chisnall 6 0 Mick Todd
James Richardson 6 2 Mark Barilli
Andrew Gilding 6 4 Chris Dobey
Matt Clark 6 2 Peter Jacques
Joe Cullen 6 4 Ricky Evans
Robert Owen 6 4 Diogo Portela
Steve Beaton 6 0 Matthew Dennant
Keegan Brown 6 4 Mark Walsh
Ian White 6 1 Paul Rowley
Jamie Lewis 6 1 Sven Groen
Jonny Clayton 6 5 Callan Rydz
William O'Connor 6 4 Ron Meulenkamp
Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Cristo Reyes
Paul Harvey 6 4 Chris Quantock
James Wilson 6 3 Warrick Scheffer
Mike De Decker 6 3 Dennis Smith
Mensur Suljovic 6 4 Mark Webster
Antonio Alcinas 6 5 David Pallett
Berry van Peer 6 2 Robbie Green
Paul Nicholson 6 2 Devon Petersen
Stephen Bunting 6 3 Richie Burnett
Richard North 6 4 Peter Hudson
Jermaine Wattimena 6 4 James Wade
Ted Evetts 6 1 John Bowles
Richie Corner 6 5 Benito van de Pas
Joe Murnan 6 5 Scott Taylor
Darren Webster 6 2 Simon Preston
Ross Twell 6 5 Ryan Palmer
Daryl Gurney 6 3 Josh Payne
John Michael 6 1 Scott Darbyshire
Christian Kist 6 5 Ritchie Edhouse
Terry Temple 6 2 Shaun Griffiths
Kim Huybrechts 6 2 Ricky Williams
Jamie Caven 6 5 Darron Brown
John Henderson 6 3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Madars Razma 6 3 Bryan de Hoog
Gerwyn Price 6 5 Jimmy Hendriks
Wes Newton 6 1 Jamie Bain
Kyle Anderson 6 1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stuart Kellett 6 4 Martin Schindler
Michael Smith 6 2 Prakash Jiwa
Andy Hamilton 6 4 Wayne Jones
Justin Pipe 6 3 Maik Langendorf
Brendan Dolan 6 4 Mick McGowan
Gary Anderson 6 5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Adam Hunt 6 5 Ray Campbell
Harry Robinson 6 0 Steve West
Stephen Burton 6 5 Simon Stevenson
Last 64
Peter Wright 6 1 Steve Hine
Vincent van der Voort 6 5 Andy Boulton
Rob Cross 6 2 Vincent Kamphuis
Mervyn King 6 2 Ryan Searle
Ryan Meikle 6 3 Andy Jenkins
Robert Thornton 6 5 Mickey Mansell
Tony Newell 6 4 Jelle Klaasen
Darren Johnson 6 5 Jonathan Worsley
Dave Chisnall 6 1 James Richardson
Matt Clark 6 3 Andrew Gilding
Robert Owen 6 5 Joe Cullen
Steve Beaton 6 4 Keegan Brown
Jamie Lewis 6 5 Ian White
Jonny Clayton 6 2 William O'Connor
Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Paul Harvey
Mike De Decker 6 1 James Wilson
Mensur Suljovic 6 2 Antonio Alcinas
Paul Nicholson 6 5 Berry van Peer
Richard North 6 4 Stephen Bunting
Ted Evetts 6 5 Jermaine Wattimena
Richie Corner 6 4 Joe Murnan
Darren Webster 6 3 Ross Twell
Daryl Gurney 6 4 John Michael
Terry Temple 6 1 Christian Kist
Kim Huybrechts 6 5 Jamie Caven
John Henderson 6 5 Madars Razma
Wes Newton 6 5 Gerwyn Price
Stuart Kellett 6 4 Kyle Anderson
Michael Smith 6 4 Andy Hamilton
Brendan Dolan 6 5 Justin Pipe
Gary Anderson 6 2 Adam Hunt
Harry Robinson 6 0 Stephen Burton
Last 32
Peter Wright 6 3 Vincent van der Voort
Rob Cross 6 1 Mervyn King
Robert Thornton 6 1 Ryan Meikle
Tony Newell 6 3 Darren Johnson
Dave Chisnall 6 3 Matt Clark
Steve Beaton 6 2 Robert Owen
Jamie Lewis 6 4 Jonny Clayton
Kirk Shepherd 6 1 Mike De Decker
Mensur Suljovic 6 0 Paul Nicholson
Richard North 6 4 Ted Evetts
Darren Webster 6 5 Richie Corner
Daryl Gurney 6 3 Terry Temple
Kim Huybrechts 6 5 John Henderson
Stuart Kellett 6 2 Wes Newton
Michael Smith 6 3 Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson 6 4 Harry Robinson
Last 16
Rob Cross 6 4 Peter Wright
Robert Thornton 6 3 Tony Newell
Steve Beaton 6 4 Dave Chisnall
Kirk Shepherd 6 5 Jamie Lewis
Mensur Suljovic 6 3 Richard North
Daryl Gurney 6 5 Darren Webster
Kim Huybrechts 6 3 Stuart Kellett
Gary Anderson 6 2 Michael Smith
Last Eight
Rob Cross 6 1 Robert Thornton
Steve Beaton 6 0 Kirk Shepherd
Daryl Gurney 6 5 Mensur Suljovic
Gary Anderson 6 0 Kim Huybrechts
Last Four
Steve Beaton 6 3 Rob Cross
Gary Anderson 6 1 Daryl Gurney
Final
Steve Beaton 6 3 Gary Anderson