US Darts Masters 2025 | Day One Preview and Order of Play
The 2025 US Darts Masters gets under way in New York on Friday as the PDC stars and North American representatives collide in Round One.
The fourth World Series event of the season features 16 players competing for £100,000 in prize money at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The opening round sees the eight PDC stars each face off against one of the eight North American representatives as they battle for a place in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
Reigning champion Rob Cross launches the defence of his title with a clash against Tour Card holder Danny Lauby – who featured in the recent World Cup of Darts.
Cross has five World Series titles to his name, having added the Dutch Darts Masters in January, and returns to competitive action for the first time since finishing runner-up in the Nordic Masters three weeks ago.
Michael van Gerwen, the 2023 US Masters champion, is also back on the big stage following a lengthy absence as he faces CDC Cross-Border Challenge winner Leonard Gates.
Van Gerwen is the most successful player in World Series history with 21 titles to his name, though his most recent came on home soil in Den Bosch back in January 2024.
The three-time World Champion missed out on a place in the Premier League play-offs last month for only the second time and has been out of action since due to personal issues.
World number one Luke Humphries, who was crowned Premier League champion for the first time a month ago, begins his bid for a second World Series title with a tie against Stowe Buntz.
Humphries, who has also picked up the World Masters title this year, will be looking to improve on a below-par record in the World Series which has seen him reach just one final.
Buntz enjoyed a superb run to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts and has also featured in the last two World Championships at Alexandra Palace.
Reigning World Champion Luke Littler opens his pursuit of a maiden title on American soil with a tie against Tour Card holder Jules van Dongen.
Littler boasts three World Series titles since the beginning of 2024, including the World Series Finals, but is yet to get off the mark this year, with two quarter-finals and a semi-final to his name in 2025.
The world number two has claimed the UK Open title and finished runner-up in the Premier League, and may feel he has a point to prove after his shock early exit at the recent World Cup of Darts alongside Humphries for England.
Van Dongen, meanwhile, faces a mammoth task if he is to trouble the teenager, having failed to win a match in PDC competition this year amid an injury nightmare which has threatened to curtail his career.
Nathan Aspinall, the 2019 US Masters champion in Las Vegas, begins his latest campaign with a clash against in-form Matt Campbell.
Aspinall reached the semi-finals of this year’s Premier League and has produced his best form on the European Tour – storming to the European Darts Trophy and European Darts Open titles, while also finishing runner-up in the International Darts Open.
Canadian number one Campbell enjoyed a fine run to the quarter-finals of the recent European Darts Open, defeating Alan Soutar, Ross Smith and James Wade along the way.
Gerwyn Price aims to go one better than last year’s runner-up spot at Madison Square Garden, and the Welshman starts out against the highly-rated Adam Sevada.
Price was denied glory in a deciding leg by Cross in last year’s final but went on to claim the Nordic Masters and Australian Masters titles to take his tally of World Series silverware to five.
Semi-finalist in the Premier League, Price finished runner-up alongside Jonny Clayton for Wales in the recent World Cup of Darts and has racked up three ProTour titles this season.
Sevada is one of three CDC qualifiers in the field and reached the semi-finals of last year’s North American Championship on this stage.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bunting begins his bid for a third World Series title in the space of four events this year as he meets Jason Brandon.
Bunting has produced his best form on the World Series stage in 2025, scooping the Bahrain Masters and Nordic Masters titles and arrives in the Big Apple as the number one seed.
American ace Brandon embarked on a magnificent run to the semi-finals of the WDF World Championship at Lakeside last December, notably defeating former champion Neil Duff along the way.
The opening match of the evening sees world number ten Damon Heta mark his US Masters debut with a tie against Tour Card holder Jim Long.
Heta is one of 18 different players to have won a World Series title, having claimed a breakthrough triumph at the 2019 Brisbane Masters.
Long was a semi-finalist in the 2024 World Seniors Championship and has enjoyed a steady start to life as a PDC Tour Card holder at the age of 57, notably reaching the Last 16 of a Players Championship event in May.
The action gets under way from 12am BST, with first round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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US Darts Masters 2025 Day One Schedule
All times BST (local time -5 hours)
Friday June 27
First Round
12am-4am
Damon Heta v Jim Long
Rob Cross v Danny Lauby
Stephen Bunting v Jason Brandon
Gerwyn Price v Adam Sevada
Luke Littler v Jules van Dongen
Nathan Aspinall v Matt Campbell
Luke Humphries v Stowe Buntz
Michael van Gerwen v Leonard Gates
