2027 IDF World Darts Championship
| 2027 IDF World Darts Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 12 December 2026 – 3 January 2027 | ||
| Venue | Alexandra Palace | ||
| Location | London, England | ||
| Organisation(s) | IDF | ||
| Format | Sets | ||
| Prize fund | £3,500,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £750,000 | ||
| Nine-dart finish | Max Mad | ||
| High checkout | 170 – Leon Price | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Alex Brow | |||
| |||
The 2027 IDF World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the International Darts Federation (IDF), held from 12 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 at Alexandra Palace in London, England.
Alex Brow won the championship, defeating Jeroen van Dijk 8–7 in the final. It was Brow's first World Championship title and his third consecutive major title following victories at the 2026 Grand Slam and 2026 Players Championship Finals. The victory extended Brow's winning streak across the three tournaments to 19 matches.
Logan White entered as the defending champion, having defeated Max Mad 7–6 in the 2026 final. White's title defence ended in the quarter-finals when he was defeated 5–4 by Van Dijk.
Mad recorded the tournament's only nine-dart finish during his second-round victory over Kieran Walsh. Leon Price recorded the highest checkout with a maximum 170 finish against Nathan Owens.
Background
Format
The 2027 championship featured 96 players, a reduction from the 128-player field used at the 2026 tournament.
The top 32 players on the IDF Order of Merit following the 2026 IDF Players Championship Finals were seeded and received a bye through the first round.
The remaining 64 players contested 32 first-round matches. Each first-round match was tied to a predetermined position in the second-round bracket, with the winner progressing directly to face one of the 32 seeds.
From the second round onwards, the championship operated as a conventional 64-player knockout tournament.
All matches were played using set play. Every set was contested over the best of five legs, with the first player to win three legs winning the set.
There was no extended tie-break within a set. If a set reached two legs apiece, the fifth leg decided the set.
The match lengths were:
- First round: best of 5 sets – first to 3
- Second round: best of 5 sets – first to 3
- Third round: best of 7 sets – first to 4
- Fourth round: best of 7 sets – first to 4
- Quarter-finals: best of 9 sets – first to 5
- Semi-finals: best of 11 sets – first to 6
- Final: best of 15 sets – first to 8
The 2027 final was extended to a possible 15 sets, compared with the best-of-13-set final used in 2026.
The player throwing first in the opening set was determined by the pre-match bull, with the right to throw first alternating at the beginning of each subsequent set.
Player count
| Entry route | Players |
|---|---|
| Seeded – IDF Order of Merit top 32 | 32 |
| Unseeded IDF Order of Merit qualifiers | 32 |
| IDF ProTour qualifiers | 16 |
| International qualifiers | 8 |
| World Championship final qualifiers | 8 |
| Total | 96 |
Prize money
The total prize fund was £3,500,000, with £750,000 awarded to the champion.
| Stage | Prize money | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | £750,000 | 1 | £750,000 |
| Runner-up | £350,000 | 1 | £350,000 |
| Semi-finalists | £200,000 | 2 | £400,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | £100,000 | 4 | £400,000 |
| Fourth round | £50,000 | 8 | £400,000 |
| Third round | £25,000 | 16 | £400,000 |
| Second round | £15,000 | 32 | £480,000 |
| First round | £10,000 | 32 | £320,000 |
| Total | £3,500,000 | ||
All prize money counted towards the IDF Order of Merit.
Qualification
Qualification was divided between the IDF Order of Merit, the IDF ProTour, international qualifying routes and the final World Championship qualifier.
The top 32 players on the Order of Merit qualified as seeds and entered in the second round.
The next 32 highest-ranked eligible players qualified as unseeded Order of Merit players.
A further 16 players qualified through the IDF ProTour, eight through international qualification events and eight through the final World Championship qualifier.
Seeds
| Seed | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Logan White |
| 2 | Alex Brow |
| 3 | Max Mad |
| 4 | Parker Reeves |
| 5 | Quinn Sanders |
| 6 | Elias Storm |
| 7 | Duncan MacLeod |
| 8 | Wyatt Walker |
| 9 | Jeroen van Dijk |
| 10 | Hunter Jackson |
| 11 | Jack Mercer |
| 12 | Rhys Morgan |
| 13 | Nathan Owens |
| 14 | Harry Lewis |
| 15 | Benjamin Carter |
| 16 | Ryan Thomas |
| 17 | Niklas Hofer |
| 18 | Kai Mitchell |
| 19 | Callum Pike |
| 20 | Bram De Waal |
| 21 | Ethan Mitchell |
| 22 | Blake Carter |
| 23 | Cole Hamilton |
| 24 | Noah Parker |
| 25 | Jamie Fletcher |
| 26 | Sean Donovan |
| 27 | Oliver Bartlett |
| 28 | Lewis Moorcroft |
| 29 | Lukas Weber |
| 30 | Matteo Vermeulen |
| 31 | Connor Hayes |
| 32 | Daniel McKenna |
Tournament summary
First round
The championship began on 12 December with the 64 unseeded players contesting the opening round. Charlie Sutton recovered from 2–1 down to defeat United States qualifier Daniel Morales 3–2 and earn a meeting with defending champion White, while Adrian Smit averaged 104.16 in a 3–0 victory over Caleb Thompson. Australian qualifier Liam O'Connell defeated Scott Brennan 3–2 with a 103.62 average, Owen Griffiths averaged 104.38 in a 3–0 victory over Bradley Stone and Japanese qualifier Hiroto Tanaka defeated Isaac Bennett 3–1 to earn a second-round match with Brow.
Tyler Grant survived a match dart against Oliver Grant and averaged 105.06 in a 3–2 victory, while Marcus Cole produced the highest first-round average at 105.38 in defeating Martin Vos 3–0. Danish qualifier Lars Jørgensen, South Korean qualifier Min-jae Park and Spanish qualifier Javier Ortega were among the five international qualifiers to progress. Fourteen of the 32 first-round matches required a deciding fifth set.
Second round
The seeded players entered the championship on 16 December. White opened his title defence with a 3–0 victory over Sutton, averaging 109.84. Smit recovered from two sets down and survived four match darts to eliminate 17th seed Niklas Hofer 3–2, while Park overturned a 2–0 deficit to eliminate 25th seed Jamie Fletcher. Van Dijk averaged 108.92 in a 3–0 victory over Theo Walsh, and Stefan Müller knocked out 24th seed Noah Parker in five sets.
Fourth seed Parker Reeves survived O'Connell 3–2 with a 108.16 average to O'Connell's 106.74. Harvey Nolan eliminated 29th seed Lukas Weber, while Owens defeated Price 3–2 despite Price recording a 170 checkout. Final qualifier Michael Reeves eliminated 20th seed Bram De Waal. Quinn Sanders averaged 109.21 against Cameron Price, Griffiths knocked out 28th seed Lewis Moorcroft, and Rhys Morgan survived Ortega in a deciding set.
Brow opened his championship with a 3–1 victory over Tanaka, averaging 110.64. Jamie van der Meer recovered from two sets down to eliminate 31st seed Connor Hayes, while Benjamin Carter and Kai Mitchell also progressed. Duncan MacLeod defeated Stefan de Boer 3–1, Luke Harrington eliminated 26th seed Sean Donovan, Hunter Jackson survived a 107.54 average from Grant and Marco Bellini knocked out 23rd seed Cole Hamilton.
Mad recorded the tournament's only nine-dart finish during his 3–1 victory over Walsh, completing 141 through treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 after consecutive 180s. Dylan Ward eliminated 30th seed Matteo Vermeulen, Cole defeated 14th seed Harry Lewis, and Callum Pike progressed past Adam Fletcher. The second round concluded with Elias Storm, Zachary Hughes, Jack Mercer and Tomás Varga advancing.
Third round
White defeated McKenna 4–1 with a 111.12 average, while Smit continued his run by defeating Thomas 4–3. Walker defeated Park 4–2 and Van Dijk averaged 109.37 in a 4–1 victory over Müller. Parker Reeves defeated Nolan 4–2, Owens survived Michael Reeves 4–3 and Sanders defeated Griffiths 4–3 with a 110.02 average. Ethan Mitchell eliminated Morgan 4–3.
Brow defeated Van der Meer 4–2 with a 111.38 average. Kai Mitchell recovered from two sets down to defeat Carter 4–3, MacLeod averaged 109.06 in defeating Harrington 4–1 and Jackson beat Bellini 4–2. Mad averaged 110.18 in his 4–2 victory over Ward, Cole continued his breakout run with a 4–3 win over Pike, Storm defeated Hughes 4–2 and Mercer survived Varga 4–3.
Fourth round
White defeated Smit 4–2 with a 111.76 average. Van Dijk defeated Walker 4–3 with a 110.41 average to Walker's 109.88, Parker Reeves defeated Owens 4–2 with a 109.64 average and Sanders survived Ethan Mitchell 4–3 with a 110.72 average.
Brow survived Kai Mitchell 4–3 with a 112.06 average. Mitchell averaged 110.18 in defeat. MacLeod defeated Jackson 4–2 with a 110.12 average, Mad survived Cole 4–3 with a 111.34 average to Cole's 110.07 and Storm defeated Mercer 4–2 with a 109.72 average.
Quarter-finals
Van Dijk ended White's title defence with a 5–4 victory. White led four times in sets, but Van Dijk recovered on each occasion and won the deciding set 3–2 after White missed two match darts from 76. Van Dijk averaged 111.98 to White's 111.41. Sanders then defeated Parker Reeves 5–3 with a 111.26 average.
Brow defeated MacLeod 5–4 in the first quarter-final on 28 December. The deciding set reached two legs apiece before Brow completed an 11-darter to win the match. Brow averaged 112.44 to MacLeod's 111.31. Mad defeated Storm 5–3 in the final quarter-final with a 111.72 average to Storm's 109.91.
Semi-finals
Van Dijk defeated Sanders 6–4 in the first semi-final. Sanders repeatedly responded during the first six sets as the match reached 3–3, but Van Dijk won three of the final four sets and finished 81 in the deciding leg of the tenth set. Van Dijk averaged 112.36 to Sanders's 111.08 and reached his second major final in less than two months.
Brow and Mad then contested an 11-set semi-final. Brow led 3–1 and 4–2 before Mad recovered to 4–4. Brow moved 5–4 ahead, but Mad won the tenth set and then moved 2–1 ahead in the deciding set. Brow forced a final leg and punished two missed match darts from Mad by checking out 81 to win 6–5. Brow averaged 113.18 to Mad's 112.64, with the pair combining for 52 maximums.
Final
The final on 3 January was contested between Brow and Van Dijk in a rematch of the 2026 Grand Slam final, which Brow had won 16–13. Brow entered the match on an 18-match winning streak across the Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and World Championship. Both finalists had also increased their match average in every round of the championship, with Brow reaching 113.18 in the semi-finals and Van Dijk reaching 112.36.
Van Dijk made the faster start to the final. He won the opening set 3–1 after Brow missed double 16 for 104 and doubled his advantage with a 3–2 second set. Brow had led 2–1 in legs but Van Dijk levelled with an 11-darter and finished 121 on the bullseye in the deciding leg to establish a 2–0 lead.
Brow responded by sweeping the third set 3–0 with legs of 11, 12 and 12 darts. Van Dijk restored his two-set advantage by taking the fourth 3–2. Brow missed double 12 for a 144 checkout in the deciding leg and Van Dijk punished the miss with a 116 finish to move 3–1 ahead.
The fifth set produced the first major swing of the final. Van Dijk moved 2–0 ahead in legs and had two darts at double 16 to move 4–1 ahead in sets, but Brow survived before producing consecutive 11-darters to level at 2–2. Brow then completed a 124 checkout on the bullseye in the deciding leg to steal the set and reduce the deficit to 3–2.
Brow levelled the final by taking the sixth set 3–1. He opened with a 12-darter and, after Van Dijk held in 13, Brow produced consecutive 11-dart legs. The seventh set also went to Brow, who moved ahead for the first time after winning it 3–2. Van Dijk missed one dart at double 18 in the deciding leg before Brow finished 81 through treble 19 and double 12.
Van Dijk immediately responded in the eighth set. He opened with consecutive 12-darters before Brow won the third leg in 11. Van Dijk completed 104 in the fourth to win the set 3–1 and level the match at 4–4.
The ninth set became one of the highest-quality periods of the final. Brow opened with 180, 180 and treble 20 to begin a nine-dart attempt, but his eighth dart missed treble 19. He completed the leg in ten darts. Van Dijk responded with an 11-darter before Brow held in 12. Van Dijk levelled in 13 darts, but Brow completed 132 on the bullseye in the deciding leg to regain the lead at 5–4.
Van Dijk won the tenth set 3–2, surviving a set dart from Brow at double 16 before finishing 84. Brow then took the eleventh 3–1, including finishes of 116 and 121, to lead 6–5.
Van Dijk produced one of his strongest sets of the match in the twelfth. He won it 3–0 with legs of 11, 12 and 11 darts, averaging above 125 across the set, and then moved ahead again after taking the thirteenth set 3–2. Brow had led 2–1, but Van Dijk levelled in 12 darts before finishing 104 in the deciding leg to lead the final 7–6 and move one set from the title.
Brow was therefore required to win both remaining sets to become champion. He opened the fourteenth set with an 11-darter before Van Dijk replied with a 12-dart leg. Brow moved