Players Championship 4: Whitlock triumphs in Barnsley

Whitlock followed up his ProTour double of two Coral UK Open Qualifier wins in February by taking home the £10,000 first prize to complete the weekend's tournaments at the Barnsley Metrodome.

The Australian's return to form began with a pair of Players Championship wins in the latter part of 2016, and he continued his winning streak in style.

Early wins over Scott Darbyshire, Devon Petersen and Andy Jenkins moved Whitlock into the last 16, where he overcame last Sunday's UK Open finalist Gerwyn Price 6-4.

He then defeated world number two Gary Anderson 6-5 - after surviving a missed match dart from the two-time World Champion - before seeing off Kim Huybrechts 6-3 in the semi-finals.

As he had in the last four, Whitlock raced into a 3-0 against Johnson in the final, and after double three put the Yorkshireman on the board it was the Australian who took the next two for a 5-1 cushion.

Two missed match darts in leg seven allowed Johnson to keep his hopes alive, before he took out 100 to pull back to 5-3, but Whitlock's scoring power was too strong in leg nine as the Australian set up double two for victory.

Johnson's performance was his best-ever on the PDC circuit, with the Mexborough man last having reached a ProTour semi-final six years ago.

After opening his day with wins over Betway Premier League stars Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld, Johnson then defeated Dutch duo Jimmy Hendriks and Benito van de Pas and Coventry's Steve Hine to move into the last four.

There, he held his nerve against World Champion Michael van Gerwen, who hit back from 5-3 down to force a decider only to see Johnson hit a 180 in a 13-darter to secure his spot in the final.

Although he failed to defeat Whitlock, Johnson's day - which included wins over four players from the world's top 16 - saw the Mexborough thrower earn £6,000 in prize money.

Huybrechts followed up his nine-dart finish on Saturday with a run to the semi-finals on Sunday, with Van Gerwen also progressing to the last four to claim £3,000 in prize money.

Anderson's bid to win a second Players Championship of the year ended in the last eight alongside Ian White, Van de Pas and Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Dutch youngster Van Duijvenbode progressed to his first quarter-final on the ProTour since July 2015, defeating Ryan Searle, Jamie Bain, Cristo Reyes and Christian Kist before being edged out by Huybrechts.

Joe Cullen landed his first competitive nine-dart finish as he hit the 11th perfect leg of the year during his second round win over Jim Brown, scoring two 180s before finishing 141 with treble 20, treble 15 and double 18.

Saturday's Players Championship Three winner Rob Cross lost out in the last 32 to White, while Premier League duo James Wade and Jelle Klaasen were joined by Austrian ace Mensur Suljovic amongst the losers at the last 16 stage.

Players Championship Four

First Round 

Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-2 Vincent van der Voort

Wes Newton 6-2 Jan Dekker

Josh Payne (32) 6-4 Aden Kirk

Jonny Clayton 6-3 Jonathan Worsley

Joe Cullen (16) 6-1 Robert Owen

Jim Brown 6-2 Max Hopp

Steve West (17) 6-4 Chris Quantock

Paul Nicholson 6-5 Richard North

Ian White (8) 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf

Matt Clark 6-1 Warrick Scheffer

Colin Roelofs 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts (25)

Rob Cross 6-3 Brendan Dolan

James Wade (9) 6-3 Ronnie Baxter

Richie Corner 6-5 Paul Rowley

Richie Burnett 6-2 Mervyn King (24)

Mike De Decker 6-3 Mick McGowan

Darren Johnson 6-4 Dave Chisnall (5)

Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Haruki Muramatsu

Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Darren Webster (28)

Zoran Lerchbacher 6-5 Mark Walsh

Michael Smith (12) 6-1 Antonio Alcinas

Steve Hine 6-4 Sven Groen

Chris Dobey (21) 6-1 Scott Taylor

John Norman Jnr 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Benito van de Pas (4) 6-2 Andy Hamilton

Terry Roach 6-0 Jamie Lewis

Robbie Green (29) 6-2 Stuart Kellett

Ryan Palmer 6-5 Andy Parsons

Jelle Klaasen (13) 6-5 Mark Webster

Ted Evetts 6-3 Vincent Kamphuis

Steve Beaton (20) 6-0 Ross Twell

Lee Bryant 6-1 Brian Woods

Peter Wright (2) 6-4 Martin Schindler

Christian Kist 6-2 Harry Robinson

Bryan de Hoog 6-5 Jamie Caven (31)

John Henderson 6-5 Mickey Mansell

Jamie Bain 6-2 Stephen Bunting (15)

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ryan Searle

Cristo Reyes (18) 6-4 Darron Brown

Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Tony Newell 6-2 Alan Norris (7)

James Richardson 6-1 Shaun Griffiths

Steve Lennon 6-5 Robert Thornton (26)

David Pallett 6-2 Maik Langendorf

Kim Huybrechts (10) 6-3 Paul Harvey

Peter Hudson 6-5 Matthew Dennant

James Wilson (23) 6-1 Ray Campbell

Kevin Painter 6-0 John Bowles

Simon Whitlock (6) 6-3 Scott Darbyshire

Devon Petersen 6-2 Ricky Evans

Andy Jenkins 6-5 Justin Pipe (27)

Terry Temple 6-4 Simon Stevenson

Gerwyn Price (11) 6-4 John Michael

Andrew Gilding 6-4 Simon Preston

Daryl Gurney (22) 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse

Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Joe Murnan

Mensur Suljovic (3) 6-1 Matthew Edgar

Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Berry van Peer

William O'Connor 6-5 Jermaine Watimena (30)

Mick Todd 6-3 Andy Boulton

Gary Anderson (14) 6-5 Stephen Burton

Keegan Brown 6-2 Ryan Meikle

Kyle Anderson (19) 6-4 Mark Barilli

Dennis Smith 6-5 Ricky Williams

Second Round 

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Wes Newton

Josh Payne 6-3 Jonny Clayton

Joe Cullen 6-2 Jim Brown - Joe Cullen hits nine-dart finish

Steve West 6-5 Paul Nicholson

Ian White 6-1 Matt Clark

Rob Cross 6-0 Colin Roelofs

James Wade 6-2 Richie Corner

Mike De Decker 6-4 Richie Burnett

Darren Johnson 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld

Jimmy Hendriks 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher

Steve Hine 6-4 Michael Smith

Chris Dobey 6-4 John Norman Jnr

Benito van de Pas 6-2 Terry Roach

Robbie Green 6-3 Ryan Palmer

Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Ted Evetts

Steve Beaton 6-5 Lee Bryant

Christian Kist 6-4 Peter Wright

John Henderson 6-2 Bryan de Hoog

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Jamie Bain

Cristo Reyes 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp

Tony Newell 6-4 James Richardson

David Pallett 6-4 Steve Lennon

Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Peter Hudson

James Wilson 6-3 Kevin Painter

Simon Whitlock 6-1 Devon Petersen

Andy Jenkins 6-0 Terry Temple

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Andrew Gilding

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Yordi Meeuwisse

Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

William O'Connor 6-3 Mick Todd

Gary Anderson 6-5 Keegan Brown

Kyle Anderson 6-4 Dennis Smith

Losers £500 

Third Round 

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Josh Payne

Steve West 6-5 Joe Cullen

Ian White 6-4 Rob Cross

James Wade 6-2 Mike De Decker

Darren Johnson 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks

Steve Hine 6-3 Chris Dobey

Benito van de Pas 6-3 Robbie Green

Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Steve Beaton

Christian Kist 6-2 John Henderson

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Cristo Reyes

David Pallett 6-5 Tony Newell

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 James Wilson

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Andy Jenkins

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Daryl Gurney

Mensur Suljovic 6-4 William O'Connor

Gary Anderson 6-2 Kyle Anderson

Losers £1,000 

Fourth Round 

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Steve West

Ian White 6-3 James Wade

Darren Johnson 6-5 Steve Hine

Benito van de Pas 6-5 Jelle Klaasen

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Christian Kist

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 David Pallett

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Gerwyn Price

Gary Anderson 6-5 Mensur Suljovic

Losers £1,500 

Quarter-Finals 

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ian White

Darren Johnson 6-5 Benito van de Pas

Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Simon Whitlock 6-5 Gary Anderson

Losers £2,250 

Semi-Finals 

Darren Johnson 6-5 Michael van Gerwen

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Kim Huybrechts

Losers £3,000 

Final 

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Darren Johnson

Winner £10,000

Runner-Up £6,000