Thomas Anthony Payne (born April 10, 1955) is an American former 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. He is also well known for publishing an article in the ''Bulls Eye News'' magazine famously titled "Thermonuclear Cricket".

Career

Payne played in seven

BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champio ...

s, but only managed to win one match in 1991, where he defeated Chris Johns, eventually losing in the second round to then World Champion Phil Taylor. All his other appearances saw him beaten in the first round where he lost to the likes of

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

(1987),

Cliff Lazarenko Cliff Lazarenko (born 16 March 1952) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height (193 cm / 6'4") and weight (over 127 kg at his peak), he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage ...

(1988) and Bob Taylor (1994). Payne is, along with

Davy Richardson David Richardson-Page (born 21 October 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He was nicknamed Rocky and The Face. Career Richardson was well renowned for having the worst r ...

and Steve West, one of three players to have lost their first five matches at the World Championship. Despite his poor record at the world championship, Payne fared better in other BDO majors, reaching the final in the 1985 WDF World Cup Men's singles where he lost to Bristow and also reached the semi-finals of the 1985

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

where he lost to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Ray Farrell Raymond "Ray" Farrell is a former Northern Irish professional darts player. Career Farrell reached the final of the 1985 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Bobby George, Jan Erik Paulsen, Steve Gittins and Tony Payne along the way before h ...

. One of Payne's most notable career landmarks was his defeat of the former English player Steve Brown for the championship title of the 1990 Lucky Lights Challenge of Champions. In July 1994, Payne crossed the darting divide where he was one of eleven Americans invited to play in the PDC World Matchplay. He lost in the first round to Singapore

Paul Lim Paul Lim Leong Hwa (born 25 January 1954) is a Singaporean professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect nine-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round ...

. After that, Payne retired from darts, preferring to spend more time with his family and newly acquired farm. However in 2003, Payne returned to the game and qualified for the

Las Vegas Desert Classic The Las Vegas Desert Classic was a darts tournament, organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and was held each year in July from 2002 until 2009. Its original venue was the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada from 2002 to ...

, the first American darts player to qualify on live television, where he lost his opening group game to

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

but defeated

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

8–1 which gave him a good chance of qualifying. However, Beaton went on to beat Baxter and win the group. Payne also played in the 2004 PDC World Darts Championship but lost in the first round to

Steve Maish Stephen Maish (born 22 November 1963 in Southend, Essex) is a retired English professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Mr Magic for his matches. Career Maish made his televised deb ...

World Championship results

BDO

* 1986: 1st Round (lost to Vic Hubbard 1–3) (sets) * 1987: 1st Round (lost to

0–3) * 1988: 1st Round (lost to

1–3) * 1989: 1st Round (lost to

Lars Erik Karlsson Lars Erik Karlsson (born 28 October 1964) is a Swedish former professional darts player who competed in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) during the 1980s and 90s. Career Karlsson played three successive World Championships in 1987, 1988 ...

2–3) * 1990: 1st Round (lost to

Dennis Hickling Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometim ...

1–3) * 1991: 2nd Round (lost to Phil Taylor 0–3) * 1994: 1st Round (lost to Bob Taylor 0–3)

PDC

* 2004: 1st Round (lost to

0–3)

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
American darts players Living people 1955 births British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation associate players {{US-darts-bio-stub