STEVE BROWN won his maiden PDC ProTour title with a 6-3 defeat of Ian White in the first UK Open Qualifier of the year at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday.
The Bristolian picked up the £6,000 first prize in his first final since turning professional in 2007, defeating Stoke's White with a near-104 average.
Brown had earlier produced some brilliant darts, although he came through three 11-leg battles by taking victory in a decider against Michael Rosenauer, Scott Rand and Jamie Caven.
He also overcame Darren Whittingham and Colin Osborne, as well as taking the notable scalp of Simon Whitlock with a 6-3 semi-final triumph before taking on White.
Brown took a 2-0 lead in the final with legs of 14 and 13 darts, before White took out 122 to win the third leg as the Bristol ace sat on a double.
Another two-dart finish saw Brown finish 85 to lead 3-1, but he paid for missing two darts to take the fifth as White finished 117 on tops to pull back to 3-2.
Brown kicked off the sixth with back-to-back 180s, and although a possible nine-dart finish slipped away he took the leg in 12 darts by checking out 96 with 20, double 18 and double top, before a 15-dart leg saw him move 5-2 up and to within a leg of victory.
He landed a fourth 180 of the game in next to be first to a double, but missed two darts for victory as Brown posted double ten to stay in the match.
Brown, though, would not be denied and hit two 140s in the ninth before returning after a missed double top to land double ten for the victory.
"It feels like a dream, it's unbelievable," said Brown. "I've imaging the moment in my mind a million times but the feeling of winning it is unbelievable.
"It's my first final and I was determined not to let the moment pass me by. I wanted to make sure every dart I threw counted, and I did the job.
"I played pretty well all day. I got through three 6-5 matches and took out a few big shots to win those matches and that gave me some confidence.
"Coming into the final I knew it was Ian's final too and I thought if I could get in front he might buckle. I did get in front but he put in a couple of big finishes back at me."
White had defeated his Stoke practice partner, World Champion Adrian Lewis, 6-1 in the semi-finals and also overcame Dave Chisnall, Kevin McDine, Terry Temple, Steve Maish and Dennis Priestley in reaching his first PDC final since reaching the 1997 News of the World decider.
His £3,000 ensures his place at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton in June for the UK Open's televised finals, which will feature the leading 96 professionals from the eight UK Open Qualifiers.
St Helens' Chisnall continued his consistent start to life on the PDC circuit with a third successive quarter-final, and was joined in the last eight by Wes Newton, Jamie Caven and Stoke's Mark Frost.
Chisnall had been pushed hard in his preliminary round clash with PDC Unicorn Women's World Champion Stacy Bromberg, who hit five 180s and a 164 finish before going down 6-3 to her male opponent.
Play in Barnsley continues on Sunday with the second UK Open Qualifier.
UK Open Qualifier 1
Preliminary Round
Lee Palfreyman 6-3 Simon Craven
Andy Hutchings 6-0 Steve Perkins
Kevin Dowling 6-0 Andy Hodges
Arron Monk 6-3 Steve Grubb
Paul Rowley 6-2 Jimmy Mann
Michael Rosenauer 6-5 Nigel Birch
Peter Hudson 6-2 Gary Welding
Mareno Michels 6-2 Steve Cupitt
John Henderson 6-0 Steven Pearson
Lee White 6-4 Marko Kantele
Dyson Parody 6-1 Jon Archer
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Stacy Bromberg
Prakash Jiwa 6-4 Darren Latham
Terry Temple 6-2 Shane O'Connor
First Round
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Michael Smith
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Aodhagan O'Neill
Roland Scholten 6-3 Simon Jones
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Lee Palfreyman
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Mark Stephenson
Ryan Harrington 6-5 William O'Connor
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Matthew Edgar
Andy Hutchings 6-5 Dylan Duo
Chris Thompson 6-2 Gary Eastwood
Tony Eccles 6-1 Nick Malkin
Wayne Atwood 6-0 John Walton
Mark Frost 6-5 Kevin Dowling
Stephen Hardy 6-4 Steve Hine
Andy Jenkins 6-1 Andy Pearce
Darren Johnson 6-0 Mark Tiller
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Arron Monk
Scott Rand 6-4 Gary Anderson
Co Stompe 6-3 Mark Jodrill
Devon Petersen 6-3 Michael Barnard
Alan Tabern 6-3 Paul Rowley
Colin Osborne 6-3 James Richardson
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Ian Jopling
Steve Brown 6-1 Darren Whittingham
Michael Rosenauer 6-5 Mark Webster
Wayne Jones 6-3 Brian Woods
Dennis Smith 6-3 Tim Hope
Robert Thornton 6-2 Darrell Claydon
Richie Burnett 6-1 Peter Hudson
Jamie Caven 6-4 Jamie Atkins
Steve Beaton 6-2 Ken Dobson
Alex Roy 6-3 Mike Gillet
Steve Evans 6-2 Mareno Michels
Shaun Griffiths 6-4 Joe Cullen
Denis Ovens 6-0 Ashley Holgate
Adrian Gray 6-3 Andy Relf
John Henderson 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Matt Padgett 6-4 Louis Blundell
Wes Newton 6-4 Stuart Dutton
John Part 6-4 Dean Jones
Andy Smith 6-2 Lee White
Sam Allen 6-4 Mark Lawrence
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Matt Jackson
Jelle Klaasen 6-0 Paul Schofield
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Dyson Parody
Andrew Hibbert 6-3 Mick McGowan
Mark Walsh 6-1 Andy Brown
Jason Crawley 6-5 Barrie Bates
Justin Pipe 6-0 Jimmy O'Regan
Colin Monk 6-3 David Coyne
Geoff Whitworth 6-2 Gary Mawson
Wayne Mardle 6-3 Ian Lever
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Peter Manley
Mark Hylton 6-1 Richie Corner
Mick Todd 6-1 Peter Wright
Martyn Turner 6-4 Norman Fletcher
Matt Clark 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Steve Maish 6-0 Paul Sawyer
Ian White 6-2 Dennis Priestley
Kevin Painter 6-0 Adam Smith-Neale
Terry Temple 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Kevin McDine 6-3 Dave Ladley
Mervyn King 6-5 Dave Smith
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Mike Nott
Tony Ayres 6-0 Simon Burt
Second Round
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Roland Scholten
Colin Lloyd 6-0 Ryan Harrington
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Andy Hutchings
Tony Eccles 6-0 Chris Thompson
Mark Frost 6-2 Wayne Atwood
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Stephen Hardy
Darren Johnson 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Scott Rand 6-1 Co Stompe
Devon Petersen 6-1 Alan Tabern
Colin Osborne 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Steve Brown 6-5 Michael Rosenauer
Dennis Smith 6-4 Wayne Jones
Robert Thornton 6-2 Richie Burnett
Jamie Caven 6-3 Steve Beaton
Steve Evans 6-5 Alex Roy
Denis Ovens 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
John Henderson 6-1 Adrian Gray
Wes Newton 6-3 Matt Padgett
John Part 6-4 Andy Smith
Terry Jenkins 6-4 Sam Allen
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Mark Walsh 6-1 Andrew Hibbert
Jason Crawley 6-5 Justin Pipe
Geoff Whitworth 6-5 Colin Monk
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Wayne Mardle
Mark Hylton 6-3 Mick Todd
Matt Clark 6-1 Martyn Turner
Ian White 6-1 Steve Maish
Terry Temple 6-3 Kevin Painter
Kevin McDine 6-4 Mervyn King
Tony Ayres 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Losers £200
Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Kirk Shepherd
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Mark Frost 6-5 Tony Eccles
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Darren Johnson
Scott Rand 6-4 Devon Petersen
Steve Brown 6-2 Colin Osborne
Robert Thornton 6-5 Dennis Smith
Jamie Caven 6-3 Steve Evans
Denis Ovens 6-2 John Henderson
Wes Newton 6-4 John Part
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Mark Walsh 6-2 Jason Crawley
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Geoff Whitworth
Mark Hylton 6-3 Matt Clark
Ian White 6-5 Terry Temple
Kevin McDine 6-4 Tony Ayres
Losers £400
Fourth Round
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Mark Frost 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Steve Brown 6-5 Scott Rand
Jamie Caven 6-2 Robert Thornton
Wes Newton 6-1 Denis Ovens
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Mark Walsh
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Mark Hylton
Ian White 6-3 Kevin McDine
Losers £600
Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mark Frost
Steve Brown 6-5 Jamie Caven
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Wes Newton
Ian White 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Steve Brown 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Ian White 6-1 Adrian Lewis
Losers £2,000
Final
Steve Brown 6-3 Ian White
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000