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Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number six; he reached a peak ranking of world number five in 2025. Nicknamed " the Ferret", he has won four PDC major televised singles titles, all in 2021: the Masters, Premier League, World Series Finals and World Grand Prix. He has also won the PDC World Cup of Darts on two occasions in 2020 and 2023, representing Wales alongside Gerwyn Price. He has won a total of seventeen PDC titles.
He has finished as runner-up at the 2017 Players Championship Finals, 2023 World Matchplay and the 2025 World Masters. He is a one-time World Championship quarter-finalist, reaching the last eight at the 2023 PDC World Championship.
Clayton won his first PDC ranking title with Players Championship 22 after beating James Wilson 6–1 in the final.
Clayton got to his first PDC major final at the 2017 Players Championship Finals. He beat Jeffrey de Graaf, Price, Stephen Bunting, Steve Beaton and number 1 seed Rob Cross, before losing out to Michael van Gerwen.
He went on to win the 2018 Austrian Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price 8–5 in the final. This meant that he was the first Welsh winner on the PDC European Tour.
Clayton kicked off his 2020 season by defeating world number one Michael van Gerwen 10–6 in the opening round of the 2020 Masters.
He went on to win the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts for Wales with Gerwyn Price as his teammate, defeating the English side of Rob Cross and Michael Smith 3–0.
He won two Players Championship events, PC4 and PC7 early in 2021.
Upon winning the Masters tournament, Clayton was invited to participate in the 2021 Premier League Darts, where on the third night of his debut season he hit a nine-dart finish on the way to beating José de Sousa.
After the fifth evening of league action, Clayton was placed at the top of the league. He slipped to as low as 8th, before going into 4th position for night 16. He had to achieve at least a draw to secure his place in the playoffs. He managed to do so and won his game against Dimitri Van den Bergh winning 8–6.
In the playoffs he beat Michael van Gerwen 10–8 in their semi-final. He went on to defeat José de Sousa 11–5 in the final. In doing so he became the first Welsh winner of the Premier League and the first player to finish 4th in the league phase and win the title.
Clayton participated in the World Grand Prix in which he reached the final after beating Callan Rydz, José de Sousa, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert along the way. In the final Clayton prevailed over World No. 1 Gerwyn Price with a 5–1 victory winning him his third major tournament of the year. Three weeks later, Clayton picked up his fourth TV title of the year with an 11–6 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final of the World Series of Darts Finals.
Clayton entered the 2022 Premier League as defending champion and secured qualification for the play-offs following his night 13 win in Glasgow. He finished first in the league phase with four nightly wins. He faced fourth-placed Joe Cullen in the play-off semi-finals and lost 10–4.
The Welsh team of Clayton and Gerwyn Price reached the final of the World Cup of Darts but were defeated 3–1 by Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock of Australia. Clayton won his first World Series of Darts title at the New South Wales Darts Masters in Wollongong, beating James Wade 8–1 in the final.
Clayton was selected for the Premier League following his world championship campaign. He achieved back-to-back nightly wins on night nine and night ten, defeating reigning world champion Michael Smith in the final of night nine before adding another final win over Peter Wright the next week. He qualified for the play-offs by finishing in fourth place in the league phase. This meant he faced league leader Gerwyn Price in the play-off semi-finals, who defeated Clayton 10–2.
In June, Clayton teamed with Price at the World Cup of Darts, with the Welsh pair winning their second World Cup title after a 10–2 victory over Scotland (Peter Wright and Gary Anderson) in the final. The next month, Clayton reached the final of the World Matchplay but suffered a 18–6 defeat to Nathan Aspinall.
Clayton produced his highest televised three-dart average in his first-round match against Martin Schindler at the World Masters, averaging 112.77 to beat Schindler 3–1 in sets. He reached the final of the tournament, where he faced Luke Humphries. Clayton recovered from 5–2 down to level the match at 5–5, but ultimately lost 6–5 in a deciding leg. He defeated Gary Anderson and Michael Smith en route to the semi-finals of the UK Open, where he lost 11–6 to Luke Littler. This run saw him rise to world number five on the PDC Order of Merit.
In May, Clayton won his third European Tour title at the Dutch Darts Championship, earning wins over Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals and Luke Humphries in the semi-finals before defeating Niko Springer 8–6 in the final. He represented Wales at the World Cup of Darts alongside Gerwyn Price and the duo reached the final, but they were narrowly defeated in the final 10–9 by Northern Ireland.
Clayton was a scrum-half and captain of amateur rugby union club Pontyberem RFC. A lounge named "The Ferret Lounge" has been established at the club in Clayton’s honour. He is a supporter of English football club Liverpool. He has the number 97 under the back of his collar on his shirt, as a mark of respect for the people who died in the Hillsborough disaster.
Clayton's father, John, died in July 2023. He considered quitting darts as a result. During a post-match post conference in December 2024, Clayton said, "It was over, I won’t lie to you. I had no interest, I didn’t want to play the game, I didn’t want to travel. It meant nothing to me… When I lost my dad, it hurt. He was my inspiration to keep playing. I said, 'That is it – I don’t want to do it any more.'"
| World Matchplay (0–1) |
| Premier League (1–0) |
| World Grand Prix (1–0) |
| World Masters (1–1) |
| Players Championship Finals (0–1) |
| World Series of Darts Finals (1–0) |
| 1. | 2017 | Michael van Gerwen | 2–11 (l) | |||
| Winner | 1. | 2021 | Mervyn King | 11–8 (l) | ||
| Winner | 2. | 2021 | Premier League | José de Sousa | 11–5 (l) | |
| Winner | 3. | 2021 | World Grand Prix | Gerwyn Price | 5–1 (s) | |
| Winner | 4. | 2021 | World Series of Darts Finals | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 11–6 (l) | |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2023 | World Matchplay | Nathan Aspinall | 6–18 (l) | |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2025 | World Masters | Luke Humphries | 5–6 (s) |
| Winner | 1. | 2020 | 3–0 (m) | ||||
| 1. | 2022 | 1–3 (m) | |||||
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | 10–2 (l) | ||||
| 2. | 2025 | 9–10 (l) |
| Winner | 1. | 2022 | 8–1 (l) | ||
| Gerwyn Price | 4–8 (l) |
| PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 4R | QF | 4R | 4R | ||||||||||
| World Masters | Did not qualify | 1R | QF | W | SF | QF | 1R | F | ||||||||||||
| UK Open | 1R | 2R | 3R | 4R | 5R | SF | 6R | 6R | 6R | 6R | SF | |||||||||
| World Matchplay | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | 2R | SF | |||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | 2R | W | 2R | 1R | QF | SF | |||||||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | |||||||||||
| Grand Slam | RR | DNQ | QF | DNQ | 2R | QF | 2R | RR | DNQ | |||||||||||
| DNQ | 1R | F | QF | 1R | 2R | SF | SF | 2R | 1R | |||||||||||
| PDC Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Did not participate | W | SF | SF | DNP | |||||||||||||||
| World Cup | DNP | QF | 1R | W | SF | F | W | 2R | F | |||||||||||
| World Series Finals | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | QF | DNQ | W | SF | 2R | 1R | 2R | ||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 74 | 60 | 31 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | ||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| 2015 | GDC DNP | GDT DNP | GDM DNQ | DDM 1R | IDO 2R | Did not qualify | EDG 2R | |||||||
| 2016 | Did not qualify | EDM 2R | ADO 2R | EDO 2R | IDO DNQ | EDT DNQ | EDG 3R | GDC DNQ | ||||||
| 2017 | GDC DNQ | GDM 2R | GDO DNQ | EDG 2R | GDT 2R | EDM DNQ | ADO 2R | Did not qualify | EDT 3R | |||||
| 2018 | EDO 1R | GDG 2R | GDO DNQ | ADO W | EDG DNQ | DDM 1R | GDT QF | DDO 2R | EDM 2R | GDC 2R | DDC 2R | IDO 3R | EDT 3R | |
| 2019 | EDO 3R | GDC 3R | GDG 2R | GDO 2R | ADO 2R | EDG 3R | DDM 2R | DDO SF | CDO 2R | ADC 2R | EDM QF | IDO 3R | GDT 2R | |
| 2020 | BDC 1R | EDG DNQ | IDO DNQ | |||||||||||
| 2021 | HDT 2R | GDT 2R | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO SF | GDC QF | GDG QF | ADO 3R | EDO 3R | CDO 2R | EDG 3R | DDC DNP | EDM 2R | HDT 2R | GDO 3R | BDO SF | GDT 3R | |
| 2023 | BSD SF | EDO 2R | IDO QF | GDG 2R | ADO W | DDC 2R | BDO QF | CDO QF | EDG 2R | EDM 2R | GDO DNP | HDT 3R | GDC 2R | |
| 2024 | BDO QF | GDG 2R | IDO 2R | EDG 3R | ADO 3R | BSD 2R | DDC F | EDO WD | GDC 2R | FDT 1R | HDT 2R | SDT 1R | CDO QF | |
| 2025 | BDO QF | EDT 2R | IDO 2R | GDG 2R | ADO 2R | EDG 2R | DDC W | EDO SF | BSD QF | FDT 2R | CDO 3R | HDT WD | SDT QF | GDC |
PDC Players Championships
| 2015 | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | COV QF | COV 1R | COV 2R | CRA 1R | CRA 3R | BAR DNP | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | COV 2R | COV 1R | |||||||||||||||
| 2016 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | COV QF | COV 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | DUB 4R | DUB 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | MIL 1R | MIL 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | WIG 4R | WIG QF | MIL QF | MIL QF | WIG 3R | WIG 1R | BAR QF | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | DUB 1R | DUB 1R | BAR 3R | BAR W | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL 2R | MIL 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | WIG QF | WIG F | MIL 1R | MIL QF | WIG QF | WIG 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | DUB 2R | DUB 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | ||||||||||||
| 2019 | WIG QF | WIG SF | WIG 1R | WIG 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | WIG 3R | WIG SF | BAR 1R | BAR W | BAR QF | BAR QF | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | HIL 4R | HIL 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 1R | BAR SF | DUB 2R | DUB 4R | BAR 4R | BAR QF | ||||
| 2020 | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | WIG 3R | WIG 2R | WIG 1R | WIG 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | MIL 3R | MIL QF | MIL 4R | MIL 1R | MIL 1R | NIE 1R | NIE 2R | NIE 2R | NIE 4R | NIE 2R | COV 3R | COV 2R | COV 4R | COV QF | COV 2R | |||||||||||
| 2021 | BOL F | BOL F | BOL QF | BOL W | MIL 2R | MIL 3R | MIL W | MIL 1R | NIE Did not participate | MIL SF | MIL 3R | MIL QF | MIL 4R | COV 4R | COV 4R | COV 4R | COV 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR F | BAR Did not participate | BAR 2R | BAR 4R | BAR QF | ||||||||||
| 2022 | BAR QF | BAR 1R | WIG 1R | WIG 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | NIE DNP | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | BAR QF | BAR 4R | DNP | NIE 3R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR QF | BAR F | DNP | BAR 2R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | |||||||||
| 2023 | BAR SF | BAR 3R | BAR 4R | BAR 4R | BAR 3R | BAR 3R | HIL 2R | HIL 2R | WIG SF | WIG 4R | LEI 1R | LEI W | HIL DNP | LEI QF | LEI QF | HIL DNP | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR QF | BAR SF | BAR 1R | BAR 2R | BAR 3R | BAR 2R | BAR 1R | BAR 3R | ||||||
| 2024 | WIG 1R | WIG 3R | LEI 3R | LEI 4R | HIL 4R | HIL 4R | LEI 1R | LEI 4R | HIL 3R | HIL 3R | HIL DNP | MIL QF | MIL W | MIL 3R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | MIL 3R | MIL 1R | WIG 3R | WIG 4R | LEI QF | LEI QF | WIG 3R | WIG 3R | WIG DNP | WIG QF | WIG QF | LEI 1R | LEI F | |||||
| 2025 | WIG 4R | WIG 3R | ROS 4R | ROS 1R | LEI 3R | LEI 1R | HIL DNP | LEI 3R | LEI 1R | LEI 1R | LEI QF | ROS SF | ROS W | HIL DNP | LEI 1R | LEI 4R | LEI 3R | LEI QF | LEI 4R | HIL DNP | MIL 3R | MIL F | HIL DNP | LEI QF | LEI QF | LEI 3R | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG | ||||
PDC World Series of Darts
| 2021 | NOR SF | ||||||
| 2022 | USA QF | NOR DNP | DUT 1R | QUE 1R | NSW W | NZE F | |
| 2023 | BAH QF | NOR SF | USA DNP | POL DNP | NSW DNP | NZE DNP | |
| 2025 | BAH DNP | DUT DNP | NOR QF | USA DNP | POL 1R | AUS DNP | NZE DNP |
| + Jonny Clayton's televised nine-dart finishes ! Date ! Opponent ! Tournament ! Method | |||
| 7 March 2020 | Chris Dobey | UK Open | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 |
| 7 April 2021 | José de Sousa | Premier League | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 |
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