The 1997 Webster's World Matchplay was the fourth time the
World Matchplay darts tournament had been held in the
Empress Ballroom at the
Winter Gardens,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
from 28 July to 2 August 1997.
Two Preliminary round ties were decided even before the players could even reach the oche, with the USA's Larry Butler and Holland's Raymond Barneveld being disqualified for failing to arrive at the venue in enough time to play their rivals, allowing Dean Allsop and Mick Manning an easy passage to the first round.
This was brewery
Samuel Webster's third and final year as tournament sponsor. The tournament was won by
Phil Taylor.
Prize money
The prize fund was £46,000.
Seeds
There were eight seeds for the tournament.
[
]
Results
Players in bold denote match winners.
Preliminary round
Last 32
Third place playoff ''(best of 21 legs)'' (4) Rod Harrington
Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed some majo ...
11–10 Richie Burnett
Richard Mark Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. He was formerly ranked BDO world number one. ...
References
{{World Matchplay (darts)
World Matchplay (darts)
World Matchplay Darts