Michael van Gerwen beat Scott Taylor 6-4 in the final to win Players Championship Nine at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Saturday.
The world No 1 was made to work hard by outsider Taylor, who enjoyed a sensational run to reach his first ProTour final, but battled through to claim his fourth Players Championship title from only five attempts in 2018.
Van Gerwen beat Jamie Lewis, Darren Johnson, Jermaine Wattimena, Simon Whitlock, Jonny Clayton and James Wade before taking on Taylor.
Taylor's run to the final had been an unlikely one, as he started the tournament with only one win to his name in the eight previous Players Championship events this year.
But he soon forgot that poor run of form, with impressive victories over Steve Beaton and Steve West preceding a stunning 6-4 upset of former world champion Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals.
The final was hanging in the balance at 4-4 after eight successive holds, but Van Gerwen won the ninth leg with a 13-darter and then claimed the only break of the match in the 10th, closing out victory with a 132-finish on the bull.
"Overall I did a good job and I think I was a worthy champion today," said Van Gerwen, whose average exceeded 100 over the course of the day.
"At the start of the day I played quite well although after that it got a bit sloppy, but a win is a win and it doesn't matter how you win.
"Sometimes you need to survive a day like this and it was about doing the right things at the right moments. Scott did really well today so I want to say well done to him. It's tough playing here, you have to play well every game.
"I want to add to my nine titles so far this year, starting tomorrow [Sunday]."
The 2018 Premier League is back for more action on Thursday as we head to Birmingham for Week 14. Coverage gets under way from 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Main Event. The tungsten action will then continue in Aberdeen through to the season's conclusion with the Play-Offs on May 17 at The O2 in London.
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