It’s almost time for the 2026 US Masters, where the elite from the PDC do battle at the iconic Madison Square Garden against the very best North America has to offer.
But amidst those tungsten tussles against the poster boys – not that any young lad will be taking their Taylor Swift picture off the bedroom wall and replacing it with one of a gurning Stephen Bunting mid-throw – there is another oche war to be won.
Yep, that’s right. The eight-man contingent competing at the US Masters will have their own tournament at the Garden on Friday afternoon. And in the Big Apple itself, they can earn a massive bite at the Grand Slam and World Championship.
So, let’s have a look at the octet from across the Atlantic – well, not for them, because they are already over there.
LEONARD GATES
Leonard Gates continues to represent the United States with all the subtlety of a monster truck rally accompanied by a 4th of July fireworks display. The charismatic, friendly and ultra-bubbly Texan, nicknamed Soulger absolutely loves performing on the big stage. And they don’t come much bigger than The Garden. If it’s dancing you’re after, this guy makes Dimitri look like he’s stuck his hand in a live socket and then stood on a piece of Lego. Bags of movement, but Leonard has the rhythm. One cool dude. And one mean thrower of a dart.
ALEX SPELLMAN
Lovers of Facebook might recognise this fella from his countless explanations of the best way to check out certain finishes. He probably doesn’t realise that after six pints in the local pub, most of us would have forgotten about his nicely blacked-out segment demonstration board and would merely be happy for an evening when we don’t take someone’s eye out. Oh yes – almost forgot to say – bloody good player too.
GARY MAWSON
The Canadian-born – and now proud US representative – is North America’s darting version of a fine wine, gracefully getting better with age – or certainly not any worse. During his days, the 63-year-old tends to potter around the garden, playing bingo with the other residents in his nursing home and wondering why his wireless can’t find Jazz FM. Then at night, comes alive like a scene from Cocoon. His durability rivals that of a vintage Chevy, while his ability to quietly irritate opponents remains one of North America’s most underrated qualities. A class act both on the oche and off it at the retirement village.
FRED KRUEGER
The Rhode Island chucker possesses perhaps the greatest name in darts history and has probably endured every horror film joke imaginable. Unfortunately for comedians everywhere, he prefers tungsten to razor gloves. Boy, how thrilled Fred must have been thrilled when that movie came out in the 80s having forever more be compared to a bloke who looks like someone has hit him in the face with a pizza. The obvious gags are there, smacking you in the face like a heavily sedated super heavyweight boxer. But I’ll leave it at simply saying he’s a nightmare on the oche for anyone.
ADAM SEVADA
Adam Sevada has risen rapidly to become one of America’s leading lights. The Californian possesses enough natural ability to make others wonder whether he practises in his sleep. Eat, sleep, play and reap – that’s Adam’s oche code of ethics, usually with the word win added at the end. Decorated on the CDC circuit more than the Christmas tree at Times Square, the Arizona arrow-smith would make a great film franchise with the aforementioned Krueger, scaring the crap out of opponents on the oche. He will certainly be a real danger in this tournament, whether you’re asleep or not. The Blue Öyster Cult famously sang Don’t Fear the Reaper. If we’re talking about a darts match, my advice would be not to follow the message given by that particular band.
JIM LONG
As the only current North American Tour Card holder, Jim can comfortably boast the most air miles of the lot. That said, internal flights within the continent are almost as long as some NASA trips to the moon. Being Canadian means politeness is a given. Most of the time – a cool, calm and collected cat. Always happy. Always positive. Always smiling. Think Justin Hood wearing a moose hat and drinking Labatt’s.
DAVID CAMERON
With the exact surname of a former British Prime Minister, the Canadian is perhaps fortunate that this tournament isn’t staged in the UK, where the outgoing one is generally the subject of a frequently sung crowd anthem which is far from complimentary – yet fully justified. However, most of your average fans at the darts probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid if Abraham Lincoln rose from the dead, walked onto the stage and casually knocked in a nine-darter. All that said, an accomplished and experienced pro who unlike his famous namesake, is actually very good at his job.
BRAYDEN HALL
At just 23 years old, Brayden is the pup of the litter. Hailing from Ontario, the birthplace of Jim Carrey and Mike Myers, young Hall would have grown up dreaming of emulating their success while desperately trying to disguise the fact he comes from the same province as Justin Bieber. Whilst Hollywood isn’t screaming for young Brayden, win this event and the Ally Pally certainly will be.
That’s the lads competing. Friday afternoon at 1pm (EST) – in which I’m fairly sure the E stands for Eastern, meaning five hours behind the UK – That mean’s for Brits who are good at maths, the tournament gets underway at 8am. Not ideal, but still not quite as bad as staying up until 2am to watch a footy match between two giants of the game in Doctor Congo and Jordan. I won’t be doing that again.
It’s pretty much your Premier League Thursday night format – race to six and then the winner gets a spot not just at the World Championship, but also a trip to the Grand Slam in Leicester. The only reason you’d perhaps ever wish to visit that English city is if someone dangled a PDC major appearance in front of you.
Wishing all eight the very best for this, as well as the US Masters itself.
