I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland. In 1995, I started playing in the Baltimore English Dart League and I only played league and blind draws until I was convinced to try a tournament, The Howard County Open in Maryland. My first event was the Friday draw and got Marty Schilling as a partner….LOL….and I won my very first event.
So I played only a few tournaments for the next two years and 1997 is when I started traveling and really getting the taste of competing at darts. I loved it and I was practicing more and more after seeing what was out there as far as the caliber of players. I knew if I wanted to compete, then I would have to really work on my game, so I did.
In the year 2000 was where I really made my jump going from around 30th place in the ADO rankings up to 6th place. Things just started falling into place and I was winning titles here and there. This also was the first year that I made my first national team, the world masters team. It wasn’t until 2003, when I finally achieved my first national title where I finished #1 in the National points ranking and I achieved my first 501 singles National Championship title. That was a really good year for me. I made a good run at the event in Saskatoon, Canada, where I made it to the top 8, with a loss to Phil Taylor. However, I had won matches against the likes of Ronnie Baxter, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Denis Ovens, and Dave Askew. I was also named the top American finisher at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, which earned me a place in the Ladbrokes.com World Championship in December.
But before my trip to the World Championships, I had also earned a spot on the US World Cup team to compete in Epinal, France. The team consisted of me, Johnny K, Bill Davis, and George Walls. We really played well and won the gold medal in the Team Event by defeating the Dutch team that included Raymond Van Barneveld and Co Stompe. We won the bronze medal in over all World Cup competition and it was a really a great experience for us.
Next on my agenda was to be the Ladbrokes.com World Championship, where my run came up short to newcomer, Wayne Mardle.
I really took that as a big stepping stone in 2005, and I made a second World Cup team to compete in Perth, Australia. We did not defend our team gold medal title, but still played great.
The 2005 Ladbrokes.com World Championship, I was matched in the first round against Ronnie Baxter, who at the time was ranked #3 in world. This is where I produced one of my best performances up to that point, of course (LOL) beating him in a tie breaker, and then finally losing to Andy Smith in the next round.
2006 was also a good year for me. I was able to have the opportunity to play in the World Series of Darts, which was broadcast on ESPN. I lost my match to Peter Manley. However, the highlight of that tournament was a televised exhibition match where I got to team up with Phil Taylor in a match against Johnny Kuczynski and Raymond Van Barneveld. This was a great time and experience for me.
Later that year, I made another good run at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, where I made it to the top 8, and lost to Wes Newton. During the course of my play there, I defeated the likes of Dennis Priestley, Bob Anderson, Denis Ovens, Adrian Lewis and Adrian Gray.
I achieved my first PDC title by winning the Windy City Open. I had a great run beating the likes of Steve Brown, Denis Ovens, and then beating Darin Young in the final, 4-0.
2007 saw yet another chance at the Ladbrokes.com World Championships, where I lost to Wayne Mardle again, by letting him come from behind to get me.
2008 brought the US Open. I am getting more and more comfortable on stage. Once again a top 8 finish seems to be a hurdle I can’t get over. This time I would lose to Phil Taylor. However, at top 16, I was given another chance at Wayne Mardle, and beat him 3 sets to 1, while also defeating players such as Dennis Smith and Alex Roy.
The qualifier for the Las Vegas Desert Classic, I REALLY played great taking out the likes of Barry Bates, Mark Dudbridge, Kevin McDine, and then playing Bob Anderson in finals and winning 4-0. I then lost to Terry Jenkins 6-4 in the TV round.
Later this year, yet another top 8 finish in the Windy City Open losing to Mark Walsh, after having defeated players like Alan Tabern, and Kevin McDine.
