Michael van Gerwen Dutch Darts Player From Boxtel

Early life

Michael van Gerwen was born on 25 April 1989 in Boxtel, in the Netherlands. As a boy he played football as a defender until he was twelve, and he started throwing darts regularly at thirteen. At fourteen he reached the final of the Primus Masters Youth event, in 2003, and in 2006 he began collecting youth titles. In that same year he also won the open events in Norway and Northern Ireland. Before turning to darts full time, he worked as a tiler.

Career

Van Gerwen first made his name in the British Darts Organisation and World Darts Federation circuit. He climbed to third in the rankings before reaching adulthood, and at the 2006 Winmau World Masters he beat Martin Adams in the final after trailing, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament's history at seventeen. Early in 2007 he moved to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his PDC debut at a Players Championship in Gibraltar in January 2007, and later that month beat Phil Taylor on the opening night of the Masters of Darts, where he also threw a nine-dart finish against Raymond van Barneveld.

The following years were uneven. He won his first Players Championship in April 2009 and finished as runner-up in the PDC Youth Championship in two consecutive years. In 2012 his results rose sharply: he won several Pro Tour events, was named Young Player of the Year, and took his first PDC major, the World Grand Prix, in October. He ended the year by beating Taylor at the Grand Slam of Darts and reaching that final.

In 2013 he reached his first PDC World Championship final, losing to Taylor, and later that year won the Premier League, becoming the first player other than Taylor to finish top of the league table. He also won the Players Championship Finals. In January 2014 he won his first world title by beating Peter Wright 7-4, at twenty-four the youngest champion at that point, and he went to the top of the world rankings. He stayed number one until 2021.

His peak years were 2015 to 2017. He won the World Matchplay, the UK Open, the European Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts in that period, and in 2016 he set a televised record average of 123.40 against Michael Smith in the Premier League. In 2016 alone he won 25 titles. His second world title came in January 2017, when he beat Gary Anderson 7-3 after averaging a tournament-record 114.05 in his semi-final win over Van Barneveld. A third followed in 2019, with a 7-3 win over Smith. With the Netherlands and Van Barneveld he has also won the World Cup of Darts three times, in 2014, 2017 and 2018.

Van Gerwen has reached seven PDC World Championship finals, the latest in 2025, when he lost to Luke Littler. In 2023 he won his seventh Premier League title, a record. He has won 48 PDC major singles titles, and his career total of PDC titles stands at 160, including 91 Pro Tour events. He holds the record for the highest televised three-dart average.

Recognition

In 2017 Van Gerwen was named a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau, and he became an honorary citizen of North-Brabant in the same year. Within darts, he collected several annual awards from the PDC, including Young Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013, and Player of the Year in 2014.

Personal life

Van Gerwen married Daphne Govers in August 2014. In December 2014 Sky Sports broadcast a documentary about his rise, titled Mighty Mike. He supports the Dutch football club PSV Eindhoven. His green shirt and the nickname "The Green Machine" have become closely tied to his image, and his fans sing along to his walk-on song, "Seven Nation Army".