Gary Anderson was the defending champion, after defeating Mensur Suljović 21–19 after extra time in the longest final in the tournament's history.[1] However, he lost to Mervyn King 11–8 in the second round.
Rob Cross won his first World Matchplay title with an 18–13 win over Michael Smith in the final. He also became just the fourth player in history to win both the PDC World Championship and the World Matchplay.[2][3]
Prize money
The prize fund rose from £500,000 to £700,000, with the winner's earnings being up from £115,000 in 2018 to £150,000.[4]
Position (no. of players)
Prize money (Total: £700,000)
Winner
(1)
£150,000
Runner-up
(1)
£70,000
Semi-finalists
(2)
£50,000
Quarter-finalists
(4)
£25,000
Second round
(8)
£15,000
First round
(16)
£10,000
Format
In previous stagings of the event all games had to be won by two clear legs with no sudden-death legs. However, after consulting the host broadcaster Sky Sports in 2013, the PDC decided that games would now only proceed for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a first to 10 legs first round match, if the score reached 12-12 then the 25th leg would be the decider.[5]
Qualification
The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit as of 30 June 2019 were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified on the cut-off date were unseeded.
The following players qualified for the tournament:[6]
