Larry Butler (darts player)
| Larry Butler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Larry Thomas Butler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Bald Eagle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
21 July 1957 USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town |
Dayton, Ohio USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 1992-1994, 2010-2013, 2014- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 1994-1997, 2007-2010, 2013-2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | (BDO) 51 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO majors - best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Last 32: 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 72: 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events - best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Quarter-finals: 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Winner 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desert Classic | Last 32: 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 96: 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| US Open/WSoD | Last 64: 2007, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 Dart Finish PDPA Players Championship Las Vegas 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Larry Butler (born 21 July 1957) is an American darts player, nicknamed The Bald Eagle who was the winner of the 1994 PDC World Matchplay Darts Championship. This success made him the first, and so far only American player to have won a major darts tournament in Europe.
He also had some success in his home country, winning the 1993, 1994, 1995 New York Open, the 1994 Darts America Championship, the 1991, 1992, 1993 World Bullshooter Championship and the 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 Cincinnati Spring Fling Open.
BDO
Butler made his World Championship debut in 1992, losing to Dennis Priestley in the first round. Many top British players formed their own organisation (separate to the governing body, the British Darts Organisation)
PDC
During 1993-94 to organise their own tournaments and their own World Championships (see split in darts). Several North American players were invited to join them in tournaments and Butler appeared at the first WDC (now Professional Darts Corporation, PDC) World Championship in 1994. He failed to qualify from the group stages, but produced a notable victory over three-time former world champion, John Lowe. Lowe was the last world champion before the split just twelve months earlier.
Few would have predicted that Butler would take the World Matchplay in Blackpool later in 1994. He beat Steve Raw, Jerry Umberger, Jocky Wilson and Shayne Burgess to reach the final where he beat the World Champion Priestley by 16 legs to 12 to take the £10,000 top prize.
Butler also competed at the 1995, 1996 and 1997 WDC World Championships where he beat former world champions Keith Deller and Eric Bristow plus world number one Rod Harrington but only managed to qualify past the group stages in 1997 when he lost to Jamie Harvey in the quarter-finals.
Despite his excellent results, including victories over several world champions, Butler ceased competing regularly on the circuit after the 1997 World Championships. Most major tournaments were staged in the United Kingdom and few North American players were able to make an impact on the game which such travelling difficulties.
After an absence of ten years, Butler began competing again on the PDC North American circuit which began to expand during 2007. He also won the USA Dart Classic, a World Darts Federation tournament.
Butler then made his first televised appearance in over ten years by qualifying for the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic as one of four North American qualifiers. He lost in the first round 6-4 to Alan Tabern.
In April 2009 Butler traveled to Europe to compete in a series of PDC Players Championships and in UK Blue Square Open qualifiers. He advanced to the money round in 13 out of 16 events he entered. His best finish was a quarter-final appearance in the West Midlands regional final on April 1, 2009.
At the 2009 PDC Players Championship in Las Vegas Butler hit a nine dart finish but lost 6-2 in his second round match against Jan van der Rassel The tournament was considered a "warm-up" event for the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic.
In June 2009 Butler partnered with Canadian Champion Bob Sinnaeve. Sinnaeve and Butler enjoyed great success at their first outing together in Boston winning the Cricket Doubles and finishing 2nd in the 501 doubles at the North American Open. They won the Cricket doubles at the Windy City open in Chicago with Butler taking 2nd place in the 501 Singles. In Atlanta, at the Peachtree Open, Butler captured the crown in both the Pro Singles and the 501 Singles. He also won the Blind draw and the open doubles 501 and finished 2nd in the Cricket Doubles. Butler and Sinnaeve finished up 2009 at the Buckeye Open in Columbus Ohio by winning the 501 doubles.
2010 started successfully for Butler. He traveled to Philadelphia to play in the Ray Chesnae Open and finished 3rd in the Pro singles and 2nd in both the cricket doubles and mixed triples. At the Huntsville AL they won both the 501 doubles and the Mixed triples. Butler finished 2nd in the singles event. In Syracuse NY they swept the singles events with Butler winning both the Pro Shoot and the Cricket Singles and Sinnaeve taking the title in the 501 singles. They also won the mixed triples and finished 2nd in the cricket doubles.
The St. Paddy's Day tourney in Indianapolis proved another successful weekend for Butler. He picked up top honors in the 501 Doubles and the Cricket Singles. He was also the finalist in the Mixed Doubles, 501 singles and the Cricket Doubles.
In early April, Butler traveled northeast to New Hampshire for the $20,000 White Mountain Shootout. He started the weekend there with a semi-final finish in the Pro Shoot. He went on to win the men's doubles and the mixed triples with Sinnaeve. Butler captured the Cricket Singles title and finished the weekend with another semi final finish in the 3rd singles.
Cleveland was up next. Butler finished 3rd in the pro shoot and took top honors in the cricket singles.
Butler then reached the semi-finals of the North American Darts Championship, defeating the likes of John Kuczynski, Bill Davis and Paul Lim before losing to Darin Young.
Butler traveled to Upper Michigan to attend the Little River Darts Tourney and then on to Nashville. He added a first a second and ties for fourth and sixteenth to his resume before heading east to Stamford CT for the USA Darts Classic. In a field of over 200 players, he captured the title in both the 501 and Cricket singles events. It was here in CT that Butler decided to rejoin the American Darts Organization and pursue a shot at the World Masters title. Winning the 501 singles got him an automatic invite to the Masters. Butler followed up that performance with a win at the Windy City Open 501 Singles and then Swept both singles titles in Colorado. 2010 came to an end with a win at the ADO cricket qualifier and an automatic Invite on merit to the World Cup in Ireland in 2011.
In 2011 he secured a spot on the World Cup team and several invites to the World Masters. He traveled to Philadelphia for the Rae Chesnay $25,600 tournament. He captured the 501 Singles title and felt well prepared to head to Las Vegas for the ADO Cricket Championship and tournament. Butler arrived in Las Vegas and went on to win the National Cricket Championship and the 501 Singles. He was the runner-up in the Cricket Singles event there and also captured the 501 Doubles title.
Butler was back to the TV stage in his first PDC World Cup appearance for the USA. He played alongside Darin Young in February 2013, but they finished bottom of Group F after losing 4–5 to Finland and 3–5 to Germany.[1] In the second round of the 2014 World Cup of Darts, Butler lost to England's Phil Taylor, but Young beat Adrian Lewis meaning a doubles match was required to settle the tie which the United States pair lost 4–1.[2]
World Championship Results
BDO
- 1992: First round (lost to Dennis Priestley 1-3)
PDC
- 1994: Last 24 group (lost to Tom Kirby 1–3 and beat John Lowe 3–2)
- 1995: Last 24 group (beat Keith Deller 3–2 and lost to Kevin Spiolek 0–3)
- 1996: Quarter-finals (lost to Jamie Harvey 0–4)
- 1997: Last 24 group (lost to Graeme Stoddart 1–3 and Alan Warriner-Little 1–3)
References
- ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts - Saturday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ↑ "bwin World Cup of Darts Second Round". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2014.