Phil Taylor claimed a fourth PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic title with a 13-7 victory over James Wade.
Superb finishing leaves opponent stunned in Vegas
Thirteen-time world champion Phil Taylor claimed a fourth PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic title with a 13-7 victory over James Wade at the Mandalay Bay resort.
Taylor outplayed the world number three comprehensively and after pocketing a cheque for £20,000, told
Sky Sports: "Against James this is very, very special."
Earlier, 'The Power' booked his place in the final with an 11-2 win over Dutchman Roland Scholten, while Wade progressed 11-8 against Peter Manley in his semi-final.
Taylor took a 4-0 lead in the final and although Wade hit back to 5-3 with a 101 finish and a 14-darter to break the throw, the world number one took five of the next six before Wade stopped the rot with a 126 checkout.
But Taylor inched closer to the title by taking the next two before Wade kept the match alive with two maximums in an 11-darter, but Taylor closed it out with an 11-dart finish of his own.
"I was hitting my doubles early in the final but then I started missing and he came back," Taylor said. "I think James' semi-final took a lot out of him and I had to put him under pressure as soon as I could."
Taylor had laid down a marker earlier in the evening when he annihilated Scholten with a devastating display of finishing, hitting 11 of 13 attempts at the double.
The Dutchman had chances early on but missed a bullseye and two darts at double 12 as Taylor led 3-1, and another missed attempt at double nine let Taylor in again to extend the lead.
The 'Power' didn't give his opponent a look-in from then on, closing out the next five legs at the first attempt to move to the brink of victory, and although Scholten got one back it was merely a consolation as Taylor booked his place in the final.
By contrast, Wade had to come from 8-6 down in his semi-final against Manley, capturing five legs on the spin to make the final.
He crucially broke the throw in leg 15 before levelling the match with a double 12, and Manley starting missing his 'outs' under pressure from the younger man.
'One Dart' had chances in each of the final few stanzas but the superb finishing that had seen him through to the last four finally deserted him when it really mattered.
