Jonny Clayton

Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number five. Nicknamed "the Ferret", he won four PDC major singles titles in 2021: the Masters, Premier League, World Series Finals, and World Grand Prix. He has also won the PDC World Cup of Darts on two occasions in 2020 and 2023, representing Wales alongside Gerwyn Price. He has won a total of 18 PDC titles in his professional career, including three European Tour titles.

He has reached the quarter-finals in the 2023 and 2026 editions of the PDC World Darts Championship.

Career 2015 Clayton joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2015 after winning a Tour Card on the final day of Qualifying School. His first quarter-final came at the sixth Players Championship event and he lost 6–1 to Benito van de Pas. Clayton qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts later that year, but despite winning his opening match against Terry Jenkins, he went on to finish bottom of his group.

2016 Clayton's first appearance at the UK Open came in the 2016 edition, but he was defeated 6–3 by James Wilson in the second round. Clayton recorded a quarter-final showing at the eighth Players Championship and reached his first semi-final at the 12th event, but was whitewashed 6–0 by Gary Anderson. A 2–0 victory over Tony Darlow saw Clayton claim the non-ranking Worthingtons Darts Champion of Champions title. He lost 6–3 to Darren Webster in round one of the Players Championship Finals.

2017 Clayton made his PDC World Championship debut in the 2017 event, and came from a set down to beat fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 3–1 in the first round. He lost 4–1 to Ian White in the second round.

Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6–1 in the final.

Clayton got to his first PDC major final at the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Jeffrey de Graaf, Price, Stephen Bunting, Steve Beaton and number 1 seed Rob Cross, before losing out to Michael van Gerwen.

2018 His run to the final saw him break into the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit, meaning that he was a seed at the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, where he was eliminated by fellow countryman Jamie Lewis.

He went on to win the 2018 Austrian Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price 8–5 in the final. This meant that he was the first Welsh winner on the PDC European Tour.

2019 Clayton won Players Championship 10 by defeating Gabriel Clemens 8–4 in the final. This was Jonny's 3rd ranking title.

2020: World Cup Champion At this point a three-time PDC ranking title winner, Clayton was selected as a 'challenger' for the 2020 Premier League night in Cardiff, but lost 7–1 to an inspired Michael Smith.

Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10–6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters.

He went on to win the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts for Wales with Gerwyn Price as his teammate, defeating the English side of Rob Cross and Michael Smith 3–0.

2021: First individual major title, Premier League and Grand Prix champion At the Masters Clayton beat José de Sousa, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright en route to the final where he faced Mervyn King. Clayton won the match 11–8 to win his first major individual televised title. In his match against Wade, he was successful in checking out 10 times out of 11 for a success rate of 91%, which the PDC claimed to be a possible world record.

He won two Players Championship events, PC4 and PC7 early in 2021.

Upon winning the Masters tournament, Clayton was invited to participate in the 2021 Premier League Darts, where on the third night of his debut season he hit a nine-dart finish on the way to beating José de Sousa.

After the fifth evening of league action, Clayton was placed at the top of the league. He slipped to as low as 8th, before going into 4th position for night 16. He had to achieve at least a draw to secure his place in the playoffs. He managed to do so and won his game against Dimitri Van den Bergh winning 8–6.

In the playoffs he beat Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in their semi-final. He went on to defeat José de Sousa 11–5 in the final. In doing so he became the first Welsh winner of the Premier League and the first player to finish 4th in the league phase and win the title.

Clayton participated in the World Grand Prix in which he reached the final after beating Callan Rydz, José de Sousa, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert along the way. In the final Clayton prevailed over World No. 1 Gerwyn Price with a 5–1 victory winning him his third major tournament of the year. Three weeks later, Clayton picked up his fourth TV title of the year with an 11–6 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals.

2022

At the 2022 World Championship, Clayton reached the fourth round where he lost to eventual finalist Michael Smith 4–3. He reached the semi-finals of the Masters but was unable to defend his title, losing 11–6 to runner-up Dave Chisnall.

Clayton entered the 2022 Premier League as defending champion and secured qualification for the play-offs following his night 13 win in Glasgow. He finished first in the league phase with four nightly wins. He faced fourth-placed Joe Cullen in the play-off semi-finals and lost 10–4.

The Welsh team of Clayton and Gerwyn Price reached the final of the World Cup of Darts but were defeated 3–1 by Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock of Australia. Clayton won his first World Series of Darts title at the New South Wales Darts Masters in Wollongong, beating James Wade 8–1 in the final.

2023 At the 2023 World Championship, Clayton whitewashed Danny van Trijp 3–0 in his second-round tie, then defeated Brendan Dolan 4–1 in the third round before beating Josh Rock 4–3 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in his career. He lost his quarter-final match to Dimitri Van den Bergh 5–3.

Clayton was selected for the Premier League following his world championship campaign. He achieved back-to-back nightly wins on night nine and night ten, defeating reigning world champion Michael Smith in the final of night nine before adding another final win over Peter Wright the next week. He qualified for the play-offs by finishing in fourth place in the league phase. This meant he faced league leader Gerwyn Price in the play-off semi-finals, who defeated Clayton 10–2.

In June, Clayton teamed with Price at the World Cup of Darts, with the Welsh pair winning their second World Cup title after a 10–2 victory over Scotland (Peter Wright and Gary Anderson) in the final. The next month, Clayton reached the final of the World Matchplay but suffered a 18–6 defeat to Nathan Aspinall.

2024 At the 2024 World Championship, Clayton won his second-round match 3–1 against Steve Lennon, then defeated Krzysztof Ratajski before being whitewashed 4–0 by Rob Cross in the fourth round. He reached the final of the Dutch Darts Championship in May, but lost 8–4 to Josh Rock. In July, he won his only title of the year at Players Championship 14 by defeating Wesley Plaisier 8–5 in the final.

2025

Clayton reached the fourth round of the 2025 World Championship, where he was defeated by Gerwyn Price 4–2. Clayton produced his highest televised three-dart average in his first-round match against Martin Schindler at the World Masters, averaging 112.77 to beat Schindler 3–1 in sets. He reached the final of the tournament, where he faced Luke Humphries. Clayton recovered from 5–2 down to level the match at 5–5, but ultimately lost 6–5 in a deciding leg. He defeated Gary Anderson and Michael Smith en route to the semi-finals of the UK Open, where he lost 11–6 to Luke Littler. This run saw him rise to world number five on the PDC Order of Merit.

Clayton earned his sole Players Championship title of the year at Players Championship 14 by winning the final 8–2 against Dominik Grüllich. In May, he won his third European Tour title at the Dutch Darts Championship, earning wins over Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals and Luke Humphries in the semi-finals before defeating Niko Springer 8–6 in the final. He represented Wales at the World Cup of Darts alongside Gerwyn Price and the duo reached the final, but they were narrowly defeated in the final 10–9 by Northern Ireland. He subsequently reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix, being denied a second 2025 major final by James Wade and Luke Littler.

2026

At the 2026 World Championship, Clayton reached his second World Championship quarter-final by defeating Andreas Harrysson 4–2. He was beaten 5–2 by Ryan Searle. On 5 January 2026, Clayton was selected to compete in the Premier League for the first time since 2023. He reached the final of the Belgian Darts Open, which he lost 8–6 to Luke Humphries. He was also a finalist at Players Championship 16 in May, losing 8–3 to Andrew Gilding.

On his return to the Premier League, Clayton achieved four nightly wins during the league stage. He finished second in the league table with 34 points to qualify for the play-offs. On Finals Night on 28 May, he missed a match dart in the deciding leg of his semi-final against Luke Humphries, leading to a 10–9 defeat. Clayton finished as runner-up at Players Championship 19, losing 8–5 to Jeffrey de Graaf in his third ranking final of the year. At the New Zealand Darts Masters, he won his second World Series title by defeating Gerwyn Price 8–4 in the final.

Personal life

Clayton has a wife, Ellen, and two children. Before becoming a professional darts player, Clayton worked as a plasterer for Carmarthenshire County Council. He continued to work his plastering job for several years into his darts career. In 2022, he quit plastering to focus on darts full-time.

Clayton was a scrum-half and captain of amateur rugby union club Pontyberem RFC. A lounge named "The Ferret Lounge" has been established at the club in Clayton’s honour. He is a supporter of English football club Liverpool. He has the number 97 under the back of his collar on his shirt, as a mark of respect for the people who died in the Hillsborough disaster.

Clayton's father, John, died in July 2023. He considered quitting darts as a result. During a post-match press conference in December 2024, Clayton said, "It was over, I won’t lie to you. I had no interest, I didn’t want to play the game, I didn’t want to travel. It meant nothing to me… When I lost my dad, it hurt. He was my inspiration to keep playing. I said, 'That is it – I don’t want to do it any more.'"

World Championship results PDC 2017: Second round (lost to Ian White 1–4) 2018: First round (lost to Jamie Lewis 0–3) 2019: Second round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 1–3) 2020: Third round (lost to Stephen Bunting 0–4) 2021: Third round (lost to Joe Cullen 3–4) 2022: Fourth round (lost to Michael Smith 3–4) 2023: Quarter-finals (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 3–5) 2024: Fourth round (lost to Rob Cross 0–4) 2025: Fourth round (lost to Gerwyn Price 2–4) 2026: Quarter-finals (lost to Ryan Searle 2–5)

Career finals PDC major finals: 7 (4 titles)

Legend World Matchplay (0–1) Premier League (1–0) World Grand Prix (1–0) World Masters (1–1) Players Championship Finals (0–1) World Series Finals (1–0)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Ref. 1. 2017 2–11 (l) Winner 2. 2021 Premier League 11–5 (l) Winner 1. 2020World Cup 3–0 (m) 1. 2022 1–3 (m)Winner 2. 2023World Cup (2) 10–2 (l) 2. 2025 9–10 (l)

Career statistics

Performance timeline

European Tour

Players Championships

World Series

Nine-dart finishes