Underrated cult heroes in darts who have won more titles than you'd think

Changing times

When I first joined the tour in 2008, if you had 10 PDC titles you were almost deemed a legend of the game.

Nowadays there’s probably too many players who have reached that milestone to get the same level of praise due to there being a lot more events than in previous years. For example when I first started, you might have 15 to 18 Players Championships in a year and now you have 30.

Gary Anderson has racked up 50 PDC titles and that’s a real Hall of Fame career whilst Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen are in another league of their own above that.

However, if you go down the lower echelons of the game there are people who have done remarkable things and I think Brendan is at the forefront of this.

Longevity

Dolan’s title span is 11 years having first tasted Players Championship success as a 39-year-old back in 2013.

On average that’s pretty much one title per year although in reality they have come in clusters and he’s shown real character to end several title ‘droughts’ during his career.

His tenth title ended an almost two-year wait since his ninth but that’s not actually too long when you consider how hard it is to win one title. Most players will have periods in their careers when they go years without a title and some won’t ever win any – so to keep challenging for honours over such a long period of time at his age makes him a special – and underrated – talent in the sport.

I’d say if you offered a player on tour one title in a calendar year, everyone outside the top 32 would snap your hand off – and there’s some inside who’d consider taking it. Gabriel Clemens, for example, is still waiting for his first.

Big event winner Joe Cullen is currently in the midst of a two-year drought so he’d dearly love to pick up one title this year I’m sure.

Ten-tastic

I won five PDC titles in my career and I’m absolutely stoked with that. But if someone had told me after my fifth in 2011 that I’d never do it again I would have said they were out of their mind!

Dolan has got twice as many as I have and more than many other bigger names than me.

Looking back at other great ‘unsung heroes’ who reached 10 titles then you’ve got to start with Mark Walsh.

He came up with the phrase ‘red carpet dart player’ to describe those who turned it on when it came to the majors – whereas players like him were fantastic on the floor.

He was actually regarded by his peers as the best floor player in the world during his peak years and was really, really hard to beat.

It’s a shame he couldn’t do it on TV to show the masses just how good he was.

Colin Lloyd is remembered for winning the World Grand Prix and the World Matchplay but people might still be surprised to know he swept up 20 PDC titles overall – double that of Brendan and Mark.

That was one of the key reasons why he earned the world number one spot for a good chunk of his career.

Whereas Phil Taylor always liked to pick and choose his events, Colin used to go to almost everywhere in the same way that Peter Manley used to.

He was a great accumulator of ranking points, winning tournaments everywhere whether that was in the North America or the UK and that would really give him a big advantage when it came to the majors that he did win.

Robert Thornton is another who has won more titles than you may have thought with 13 – and that includes the World Grand Prix and the UK Open.

Players like Dolan, Walsh, Thornton and Lloyd probably don't get the credit they deserve and are known as cult players – but they really are better than that.

He may never have been the kind of player to win a tournament averaging 100 a day like others have but Brendan has plotted his way through every single win he's ever had.

He’s pinched an incredible amount of tight matches along the way too which shows a real strength of character. That's how he wins. He is going to grind you down, and he's going to be the last person standing on average, once a season.

They only won how many?

I’m going to talk about some proper legends who you’ll be surprised to learn fell short of 10.

The first is Alan Warriner-Little, who ‘only’ won eight titles – and he started from the beginning of the PDC in 1993 and is someone I rate as one of the greatest of all time in terms of the levels he could reach.

He was a former world number one and famously set the average record for the World Grand Prix of over 106 that still stands to this day – not to mention going on to win the event as well.

Now what about John Part.

He’s ‘only’ got nine in the PDC and two of those were world titles!

So here’s a thought. If you told every player – except those who have already exceeded it – that they would retire with John Part’s CV, how many would take it?

Chris Dobey has plenty of years ahead of him but you’d probably still be surprised he’s ‘only’ won four PDC titles despite being regarded as one of the most talented players on the circuit.

Daryl Gurney only has three and two of those were the World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals.

Sometimes the amount of titles that you have won can be misleading – especially in the past when there weren’t as many tournaments as there are now.

These numbers don't flatter, but they do deceive – and greatness can be perceived without them.

PDC TITLES SINCE 2007 (When the Order of Merit ranking system came in)

• Michael van Gerwen - 152
• Phil Taylor - 117
• Gary Anderson - 53
• Peter Wright - 47
• James Wade - 37
• Gerwyn Price - 35
• Raymond van Barneveld - 27
• Michael Smith - 25
• Adrian Lewis - 23
• Dave Chisnall - 23
• Rob Cross - 18
• Simon Whitlock - 18
• Jonny Clayton - 14
• Luke Humphries - 14
• Robert Thornton - 13
• Ian White - 12
• Joe Cullen - 11
• Brendan Dolan - 10
• Colin Lloyd - 10
• Damon Heta - 10
• Krzysztof Ratajski - 10

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