Matt Edgar and Chris Mason have given their verdict on how hard it is to win darts’ biggest prizes.
Unsurprisingly they ranked the World Championship as the toughest, citing its life-changing money and enormous pressure.
The duo may raise a few eyebrows though by ranking the Premier League in sixth place, and the unique World Grand Prix one below that.
The Premier League pits the sport’s elite players against each other across a gruelling 17 weeks.
The World Grand Prix forces players to hit a double before they can start a leg, resulting in some competitors losing a leg without scoring a point.
On Edgar’s YouTube channel, the pair justified their selections to questioning fans.
Chris Mason says you can get Premier League wrong and still win
The big surprise on the list was the low ranking of the Premier League, which was lifted by Luke Littler last month.
Mason did not mince his words when assessing the tournament.
He said: “You can get it wrong for 75% of it and can still qualify [for finals night] and go onto win it. That makes it not particularly difficult if you’re one of the top players.”
History supports ‘Mace’s’ opinion.
Michael van Gerwen lost half of his opening Premier League games this year and still comfortably qualified for finals night.
That’s not to discredit those who lift the trophy, however.
The field may be small, but the travel combined with the world class opposition of the event makes it a gruelling campaign.
Difficulty varies between each player
Few would argue against the World Championship being the hardest trophy to capture.
The other majors in the calendar are subjective and it’s difficult to apply a universal ranking.
Matt Edgar and Chris Mason listed the UK Open as number two given the energy reserves required to play multiple games on one day.
Whilst this hinders some, we’ve seen players such as Luke Humphries thrive in this format helped by his Euro Tour pedigree.
Whatever your opinion is, winning any darts event is a huge achievement.
The sport’s strength is deeper than ever, and the competitiveness is at an all-time high.
Gone are the days one player could dominate every event which makes for a more exciting spectacle for fans.