Luke Humphries insists he has fulfilled another darting dream after lifting the bet365 US Darts Masters title for the first time in his career.
Humphries defeated a spirited Nathan Aspinall 8-6 in Saturday’s New York showpiece to clinch his second World Series of Darts title, following on from his NZ Darts Masters success last August.
The world number one came out on top in front of a North American record crowd, with over 4,000 fans in attendance in The Theater at the famous Madison Square Garden.
"This is the most iconic venue that we play in and it's really special to win this event," reflected Humphries.
"It's one of the top venues in the world and it's a tournament I've always dreamed of winning. When I finally won it tonight it was an amazing relief.
"I've won the World Championship, World Matchplay, Premier League - all these big titles - and it felt like I'd won another major.
"That's how big it is - it's very special and you could see my relief at the end. This was the one on the World Series that I really wanted to win.”
Humphries kicked off his title challenge with victories over American duo Stowe Buntz and Danny Lauby, before powering past 2024 runner-up Gerwyn Price 7-2 in the semi-finals.
This set up his winner-takes-all showdown against Aspinall, who fought back from 3-0 adrift to restore parity at five apiece, only for Humphries to respond with a stunning 142 checkout to lead 6-5.
The 30-year-old then fired in a 13-dart hold to move to the cusp of glory at 7-6, before punishing two missed darts at double from Aspinall to seal the deal via double eight.
"Nathan is such a credit to the sport and you can see that with the amount of support he got from the crowd,” continued Humphries.
"Nathan is so gritty and determined - he came back at me and made it hard for me, but he missed two darts to go seven-all and gave me a chance.
"It's nice to see him back playing the way he can; he makes me want to be better and we always seem to have really good games."
Humphries has enjoyed a terrific start to 2025, winning the revamped Winmau World Masters in February, while also storming to Premier League glory at The O2 in London last month.
His maiden triumph on American soil maintains his impressive big stage form, as he continues to build up towards his defence of the Betfred World Matchplay next month.
"Once I knew I was in a winning position I started getting nervous,” conceded the 2023/24 World Champion.
"The crowd were absolutely amazing this week, and to have my mum and dad here to see me win again means the world to us all.
“I'm really pleased to win; I'm over the moon. It's another massive event ticked off for me.”
2025 bet365 US Darts Masters
Quarter-Finals
Damon Heta 6-0 Jason Brandon
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Luke Littler
Luke Humphries 6-2 Danny Lauby
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Semi-Finals
Nathan Aspinall 7-3 Damon Heta
Luke Humphries 7-2 Gerwyn Price
Final
Luke Humphries 8-6 Nathan Aspinall