Larry Thomas Butler (born July 21, 1957), nicknamed The Bald Eagle, is an American professional
darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
player 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.
Butler 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
Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is ...
in the first round.
PDC
During 1993–94 to organise their own tournaments and their own World Championships (see
split in darts
The split in darts refers to the acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), in 1993, leading to the formation of the World Darts Council (WDC). Between 1994 and ...
). Several North American players were invited to join them in tournaments and Butler appeared at the first WDC (now
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
, 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 John Lowe may refer to:
Sports
* John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player.
* John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player
* John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer
* John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...
. Lowe was the last world champion before the split just twelve months earlier. During 1994, Butler was one of many names representing the WDC, the others being
Gerald Verrier
Gerald Verrier (born December 5, 1958) is an American former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Career
Verrier was brought in to make up the numbers in the inaugural 1994 WDC World Darts ...
,
Dave Kelly,
Steve Brown,
Sean Downs
Sean Downs (born February 6 1967) is an American former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
Originally from Oregon, Downs first competed in the BDO World Darts Championship in 1993, where ...
,
Jim Watkins,
Jerry Umberger
Jerry Umberger (born 21 January 1942) is a former American professional darts player, who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Tucker.
Career
From Pennsylvania, Umberger first competed in the BDO World Darts C ...
, Whit Whitley,
Jim Widmayer
Jim Widmayer (born August 23, 1969) is an American professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events.
Career
Widmayer played in the inaugural World Matchplay in 1994, losing 6–8 in the first round to Keith Dell ...
, Lori Verrier, Barry Twomlow,
Graeme Stoddart
Graeme Stoddart (born 30 July 1959 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a former English–Dutch professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname was Shark.
Career
Stoddart represented Holland in the 1984 Europ ...
,
Steve Raw,
Tony Payne
Thomas Anthony Payne (born April 10, 1955) is an American former professional darts player. He is also well known for publishing an article in the ''Bulls Eye News'' magazine famously titled "Thermonuclear Cricket".
Career
Payne played in s ...
,
Paul Lim, Jim Damore, Dieter Schutsch, Russ Lopez and Rudy Hernandez.
Few would have predicted that Butler would take the
World Matchplay in
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
later in 1994. He beat
Steve Raw,
Jerry Umberger
Jerry Umberger (born 21 January 1942) is a former American professional darts player, who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Tucker.
Career
From Pennsylvania, Umberger first competed in the BDO World Darts C ...
,
Jocky Wilson and
Shayne Burgess to reach the final where he beat World Champion Priestley by 16 legs to 12 to take the trophy and £10,000 top prize.
Butler also competed at the 1995, 1996 and 1997 WDC World Championships where he beat former world champions
Keith Deller
Keith Kelvin Deller (born 24 December 1959) is an English former professional darts player best known for winning the 1983 BDO World Darts Championship and Unipart British Professional Championship in 1987. He was the first qualifier ever to ...
and
John Lowe John Lowe may refer to:
Sports
* John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player.
* John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player
* John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer
* John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...
plus world number one
Rod Harrington but only managed to qualify past the group stages in 1996 when he lost to
Jamie Harvey
Jamie Harvey (born 15 August 1955) is a Scottish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. He used the nickname Bravedart for his matches – a play on ...
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
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and few North American players were able to make an impact, mainly due to 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
The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...
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
"The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Darts career
A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...
.
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
Jan van der Rassel (born 5 January 1964) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He used the nicknames The Project and Rassel Dazzle for his matches.
Career
He began his darts career competing on the BDO circuit in 2002, and reached the q ...
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
John Kuczynski (born October 16, 1973 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania) is a former American professional darts player. He currently resides in Zion Grove, Pennsylvania and used the nickname Johnny K for his matches.
Career
For five years running ...
,
Bill Davis
William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...
and
Paul Lim before losing to
Darin Young Darin may refer to
Places
*Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
*Darin, Yazd, a villa ...
.
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
The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.[USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...]
. He played alongside
Darin Young Darin may refer to
Places
*Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
*Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
*Darin, Yazd, a villa ...
in February 2013, but they finished bottom of Group F after losing 4–5 to Finland and 3–5 to Germany. In the second round of the
2014 World Cup of Darts, Butler lost to England's
Phil Taylor, but Young beat
Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...
meaning a doubles match was required to settle the tie which the United States pair lost 4–1.
Back in the BDO
Butler returned to the
British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...
in 2015 and had a fine year winning the BDO America Rankings helped by wins in the Camellia Classic and USA Dart Classic. He also had a remarkable week in October, first by reaching the
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...
by winning one of the two spots on offer, He beat notable names like
Scott Waites
Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...
and
Glen Durrant
Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...
. He also went on a fantastic run to the
World Masters
The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam events in tenn ...
final beating one, two and three time BDO World Champions
Scott Mitchell,
Scott Waites
Scott Waites (born 17 February 1977) is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is a two-time BDO World Darts Champion having won the 2013 tournament and 2016 tournament. ...
and
Martin Adams
Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgesh ...
along the way, but ultimately lost to Glen Durrant 7–3.
In November he played in the
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...
but was ultimately knocked out of a tough group, losing 5–0 to PDC World Champion
Gary Anderson, defeating
Andy Boulton
Andy Boulton (born 22 February 1973) is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is nicknamed X-Factor.
Career
Boulton made his televised debut in the PDC UK Open in 2005 startin ...
5–4 and losing to 5 time world champion
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...
5–3.
In January 2016 Butler competed in the
2016 World Championship, which was his first World Championship appearance in 19 years. Starting off in the Preliminary Round he defeated
James Hurrell
James Hurrell (born 7 July 1984) is an English darts player.
Career BDO
Hurrell reached the Last 32 of the 2015 World Masters, he played Martin Phillips and lost 3–2 in sets. He qualified for the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship and was be ...
3–2 and then went on to beat
Ryan De Vreede
Ryan de Vreede (born 1 September 1992) is a professional Dutch darts player. He plays in the Professional Darts Corporation events.
Career PDC
De Vreede's first Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) event was the 2009 German Darts Championship ...
3–2 before losing to number one seed
Glen Durrant
Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...
4–0.
World Championship results
BDO
* 1992: First round (lost to
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is ...
1–3)
* 2016: Second round (lost to
Glen Durrant
Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...
0–4)
PDC
* 1994: Group stage (lost to
Tom Kirby 1–3 and beat
John Lowe John Lowe may refer to:
Sports
* John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player.
* John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player
* John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer
* John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...
3–2)
* 1995: Group stage (beat
Keith Deller
Keith Kelvin Deller (born 24 December 1959) is an English former professional darts player best known for winning the 1983 BDO World Darts Championship and Unipart British Professional Championship in 1987. He was the first qualifier ever to ...
3–2 and lost to
Kevin Spiolek
Kevin Spiolek (born 5 May 1962 in Cambridge) is a retired English professional darts player who played during the 1980s and 1990s. He made a brief return to form in 2006, when qualifying to play in the PDC World Darts Championship.
Career
His ...
0–3)
* 1996: Quarter-finals (lost to
Jamie Harvey
Jamie Harvey (born 15 August 1955) is a Scottish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. He used the nickname Bravedart for his matches – a play on ...
0–4)
* 1997: Group stage (lost to
Graeme Stoddart
Graeme Stoddart (born 30 July 1959 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a former English–Dutch professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname was Shark.
Career
Stoddart represented Holland in the 1984 Europ ...
1–3 and
Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little (born Warriner; 24 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Iceman, he is a former World Grand Prix champion and a former runner-up at the World Professional Darts Championship.
Darts care ...
1–3)
WSDT
* 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to
Martin Adams
Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridgesh ...
1-3)
Career finals
BDO Major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
PDC major finals: 1 (1 title)
Performance timeline
References
External links
Cyberdarts profileDarts database profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Larry
American darts players
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
1957 births
British Darts Organisation players
Professional Darts Corporation former pro tour players
People from Dayton, Ohio
World Matchplay (darts) champions
PDC World Cup of Darts American team