MICHAEL VAN GERWEN'S imperious form continued as he claimed a third successive tournament victory, and his 17th win of 2016, by whitewashing Mensur Suljovic in the final of Tuesday's Players Championship 14 in Barnsley.
Van Gerwen has been untouchable recently, following up August's World Series of Darts win in Perth with back-to-back European Tour titles over the past two weekends.
The world number one added a further tournament win to open this week's ProTour treble-header at the Barnsley Metrodome as he scooped the £10,000 first prize in imperious fashion.
After picking up early wins over Ryan Harrington, James Richardson and Jonny Clayton, van Gerwen then whitewashed world number three Adrian Lewis 6-0 at the last 16 stage with a brilliant performance.
He then overcame in-form James Wilson in the quarter-finals and saw off John Henderson in the semi-finals, before producing another outstanding performance in the decider with Suljovic.
The Austrian had faced van Gerwen nine days ago in the final of the European Darts Trophy in Muelheim and pushed the Dutchman all the way to a deciding leg, but this time had no answer to the 27-year-old, who powered to victory.
Van Gerwen has now reached the final of nine successive tournaments since June's Auckland Darts Masters, winning seven, and has picked up victory in 41 of his last 43 matches.
Suljovic, a European Tour winner earlier this month, was bidding to claim his second ranking title, and battled past Robert Owen, Michael Barnard, Joe Murnan, Joe Cullen, Justin Pipe and Mick McGowan to reach the final.
Henderson enjoyed his best finish on the ProTour since February as he won through to the semi-finals, defeating Jeffrey de Graaf, Michael Smith, Darren Webster and Christian Kist before surviving missed match darts in his quarter-final against Kim Huybrechts.
Irish ace McGowan also won through to the semi-finals - for the first time on the ProTour since April 2008 - as he moved himself into a qualifying place for next month's Unibet World Grand Prix ahead of Mickey Mansell in the rankings.
McGowan continued the form which saw him progress to the final of the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay final recently as he defeated Terry Jenkins, Andy Parsons, John Bowles, Vincent van der Voort and Mervyn King on the day.
King and Huybrechts were joined in the last eight by James Wilson - who has recently reached three ProTour semi-finals - and Justin Pipe, who was appearing in his second quarter-final of 2016.
Ian White, Mark Webster, Jamie Caven and Steve West joined Jenkins in losing out at the first round stage, while top ten stars Michael Smith, Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall were all second round casualties.
The Players Championship was the first of three this week to be streamed live through www.LIVEPDC.TV, with two boards showing matches simultaneously throughout each event.
Further Players Championships will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Barnsley, each offering £75,000 in prize money for the 128-player field, which is comprised of PDC Tour Card Holders and PDPA Associate Members.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WWW.LIVEPDC.TV
Players Championship 14
Tuesday September 20, Barnsley Metrodome
First Round
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-3 Ryan Harrington
James Richardson 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Jonny Clayton (32) 6-5 Max Hopp
Nigel Heydon 6-5 Tony Newell
Steve Beaton (16) 6-3 Chris Dobey
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Adrian Lewis (17) 6-2 Nathan Derry
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-3 Ray Campbell
Gerwyn Price (8) 6-2 Darron Brown
Andy Smith 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Trevor Burkhill 6-5 Cristo Reyes (25)
Arron Monk 6-5 Kevin Painter
Jelle Klaasen (9) 6-1 Brian Woods
Jamie Lewis 6-5 Steve Brown
James Wilson (24) 6-1 Prakash Jiwa
William O'Connor 6-5 Jason Wilson
Christian Kist 6-3 Ian White (5)
Peter Hudson 6-1 Jason Marriott
Devon Petersen (28) 6-2 Jamie Robinson
Chris Quantock 6-2 Darren Johnson
Michael Smith (12) 6-2 Simon Preston
John Henderson 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Josh Payne (21) 6-3 Steve McNally
Darren Webster 6-3 Mike Zuydwijk
Kim Huybrechts (4) 6-0 Alan Tabern
Mike De Decker 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Jermaine Wattimena (29) 6-2 Ryan Palmer
Jay Foreman 6-5 Scott Dale
Alan Norris (13) 6-3 Wes Newton
Vincent Kamphuis 6-5 Andy Jenkins
Robbie Green (20) 6-5 Nigel Daniels
Simon Stevenson 6-2 Mark Frost
Peter Wright (2) 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Steve Hine 6-5 Berry van Peer
Raymond van Barneveld (31) 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Richie Corner 6-4 Billy Holmes
Simon Whitlock (15) 6-2 Paul Milford
Shaun Griffiths 6-3 Matt Clark
Mervyn King (18) 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Mark Barilli 6-5 Mick Todd
Dave Chisnall (7) 6-5 Keegan Brown
Ted Evetts 6-2 Jyhan Artut
Vincent van der Voort (26) 6-3 Callum Loose
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Mark Hylton
Mick McGowan 6-2 Terry Jenkins (10)
Andy Parsons 6-1 Lee Evans
Robert Thornton (23) 6-0 Andrew Gilding
John Bowles 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Benito van de Pas (6) 6-2 Ricky Williams
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Matthew Edgar
Justin Pipe (27) 6-4 Colin Littlecott
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 David Pallett
Stephen Bunting (11) 6-5 Jonathan Worsley
Andy Boulton 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Jan Dekker 6-4 Mark Webster (22)
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Ricky Evans
Mensur Suljovic (3) 6-2 Robert Owen
Michael Barnard 6-2 Curtis Hammond
Jason Lovett 6-5 Steve West (30)
Joe Murnan 6-3 Dennis Smith
Joe Cullen (14) 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Barrie Bates 6-2 Wayne Jones
Jim Walker 6-4 Jamie Caven (19)
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Terry Temple
Second Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 James Richardson
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Steve Beaton
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Yordi Meeuwisse
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Andy Smith
Trevor Burkhill 6-5 Arron Monk
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Jamie Lewis
James Wilson 6-2 William O'Connor
Christian Kist 6-1 Peter Hudson
Devon Petersen 6-4 Chris Quantock
John Henderson 6-1 Michael Smith
Darren Webster 6-4 Josh Payne
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Mike De Decker
Jay Foreman 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Vincent Kamphuis 6-5 Alan Norris
Simon Stevenson 6-4 Robbie Green
Peter Wright 6-2 Steve Hine
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Richie Corner
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Mervyn King 6-2 Mark Barilli
Ted Evetts 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Mick McGowan 6-2 Andy Parsons
John Bowles 6-4 Robert Thornton
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
Justin Pipe 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Andy Boulton
Jan Dekker 6-1 Paul Nicholson
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Michael Barnard
Joe Murnan 6-2 Jason Lovett
Joe Cullen 6-4 Barrie Bates
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Jim Walker
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Trevor Burkhill
James Wilson 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Christian Kist 6-2 Devon Petersen
John Henderson 6-3 Darren Webster
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Jay Foreman
Simon Stevenson 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Peter Wright
Mervyn King 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Ted Evetts
Mick McGowan 6-4 John Bowles
Justin Pipe 6-3 Benito van de Pas
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jan Dekker
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Joe Murnan
Joe Cullen 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Fourth Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Adrian Lewis
James Wilson 6-1 Gerwyn Price
John Henderson 6-5 Christian Kist
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Simon Stevenson
Mervyn King 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Mick McGowan 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Justin Pipe 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Joe Cullen
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 James Wilson
John Henderson 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Mick McGowan 6-4 Mervyn King
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Justin Pipe
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 John Henderson
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Mick McGowan
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Mensur Suljovic