PHIL TAYLOR made a superb return to the PDC Pro Tour with victory in the Southern Players Championship at the Brentwood Centre on Saturday.
Taylor was making his first appearance of the year on the circuit, having only competed so far in the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts.
He bounced back to form in that competition with an 8-0 whitewash of Wayne Mardle on Thursday, and was in imperious form in Brentwood.
Taylor won four matches, including his semi-final against Stoke rival Adrian Lewis, without dropping a leg, and saw off Mardle once again at the quarter-final stage.
He then swept past world number three James Wade 3-0 in the final, dropping just one leg in taking the £5,000 winner's cheque.
Wade had started the day with a near-miss at an attempted nine-darter in his opening win over Tony Littleton, missing double 12 for a perfect leg, and came from two sets down to defeat Andy Hamilton in a deciding leg in the semis.
Kevin Painter and World Champion John Part were both early casualties, losing in their first games to Pete Allen and Kevin McDine respectively, with the latter going on to reach the quarter-finals before losing to Hamilton.
Lewis went all the way in his wins over Adrian Gray and Andy Smith to reach the semis.
Van der Rassel's run to the last 16 was his best display since the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship, while Martyn Turner knocked out Colin Lloyd on his way to the same stage.
Southern Players Championship
Preliminary Round
Ian Jopling 3-0 Steve Grubb
Lionel Sams 3-0 Steve Cupitt
Richard Foster 3-1 Martin Burchell
Dennis Smith Bye (Andreas Muller)
Gary Welding 3-1 Tom Martin
Richard Plowman Bye (Kevin Hill)
John MaGowan 3-1 Mark Lawrence
Kevin Dowling 3-1 Gary Mawson
Lee Williams 3-2 Richard McLaughlin
Martyn Turner 3-0 Gary Blades
Dave Honey 3-0 Jon Archer
Ian Harford Bye (Steve Evans)
Jamie Robinson 3-2 Mick Savvery
Dave Smith 3-0 Karl Loiseau
Darrell Thorpe 3-0 Darren Johnson
Russell Mason 3-2 Darren Latham
Mark Carter 3-2 Alan Reynolds
Tony Eccles 3-0 Stuart Stubbs
Colin Monk 3-0 Chris Daglish
Gary Noonan 3-0 Ian Eames
Steve Smith 3-2 Dan Cook
Ian Walters 3-0 Chris Cooper
Paul Williams 3-0 Darren Sutton
Mark Jodrill 3-2 Ben Simpson
Brendan Dolan 3-0 Yves Cottenge
Shayne Burgess 3-0 Robbie Newland
Graeme Stoddart 3-1 Paul Knighton
Jelle Klaasen 3-0 Steve Lane
Danny King 3-0 Kieran Leal
Chris Thompson 3-2 Kevin Harris
Dale Pinch 3-0 Aaron Monk
Jason Barry 3-0 Lee White
Lee Palfreyman 3-1 Michael Smith
Steve Johnson 3-0 Rick Andrews
Sean White 3-2 Steve Cusick
John Ferrell 3-1 Sean Dowling
Darren Green Bye (Shane Passey)
Peter Aleman 3-1 Steve Brown
David Platt 3-1 Peter Walford
Simon Pratt 3-2 Jimmy Dunlop
Peter Wright 3-2 Matt Clark
Michael Barnard 3-2 Geoff Wylie
Pat Orreal 3-2 Daniel Sare
Carlos Rodriguez 3-0 Dave Ladley
First Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Rico Vonck
Tony Ayres 3-0 Chris Sargeant
Steve Maish 3-0 Ian Jopling
Jason Crawley 3-2 Lionel Sams
Colin Osborne 3-0 Alan Green
Joey Palfreyman 3-0 Geoff Daniels
Chris Mason 3-2 Richard Foster
Dennis Smith 3-2 Alan Caves
Wayne Mardle 3-0 Ian Lever
Gary Welding 3-0 Ben Burton
Mick McGowan 3-1 Richard Plowman
John MaGowan 3-0 Matt Chapman
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Michael van Gerwen
Kevin Dowling 3-0 Peter Edmonds
Lee Williams 3-2 Alex Roy
Martyn Turner 3-0 Dave Ansell
Adrian Lewis 3-0 John Quantock
Mark Tiller 3-2 Dave Honey
Adrian Gray 3-0 Ian Harford
Jamie Robinson 3-1 Bob Crawley
Denis Ovens 3-0 Darren Richardson
Dave Smith Bye (Colin McGarry)
Andy Smith 3-0 Darrell Thorpe
Russell Mason 3-2 Owen Caffrey
Terry Jenkins 3-2 Jamie Caven
Mark Carter 3-0 Darrell Townsend
Tony Eccles 3-2 Wayne Jones
Colin Monk 3-0 Gary Barnett
Pete Allen 3-0 Kevin Painter
Gary Noonan 3-1 Mark Jones
Mervyn King 3-0 Steve Smith
Ian Walters 3-0 Jim Leighton
James Wade 3-0 Tony Littleton
Andy Mason 3-0 Gary Witcombe
Alan Warriner-Little 3-1 Paul Williams
Stuart Holden 3-2 Mark Jodrill
Ronnie Baxter 3-1 Simon Craven
Jan van der Rassel 3-1 Lee Holden
Brendan Dolan 3-2 Mark Dudbridge
Shayne Burgess 3-2 Jimmy O'Regan
Roland Scholten 3-1 Dan Olson
Graeme Stoddart 3-2 Kevin Reade
Steve Beaton 3-0 Jelle Klaasen
Ricky Williams 3-1 Danny King
Barrie Bates 3-0 Ian Critchett
Chris Thompson 3-1 Nick Fulwell
Vincent van der Voort 3-2 Dale Pinch
Danny Pinhorne 3-2 Jason Barry
Andy Hamilton Bye (Colin Ritchie)
Lee Palfreyman 3-1 Andrew Gourlay
Mark Walsh 3-2 Steve Johnson
Wayne Atwood 3-1 Sean White
Peter Manley 3-1 Brian Jones
John Ferrell 3-0 Jonathan Overton
Wes Newton 3-2 Darren Green
Steve Hine 3-0 Peter Aleman
Kevin McDine 3-2 John Part
David Platt 3-2 Robert Watson-Lang
Dave Askew 3-0 Simon Pratt
Peter Wright 3-1 Nigel Birch
Alan Tabern 3-2 Simon Whatley
Michael Barnard 3-2 Darren Moulsley
Kirk Shepherd 3-1 Pat Orreal
Carlos Rodriguez 3-1 Stephen Hardy
Second Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Tony Ayres
Steve Maish 3-1 Jason Crawley
Colin Osborne 3-1 Joey Palfreyman
Chris Mason 3-1 Dennis Smith
Wayne Mardle 3-1 Gary Welding
John MaGowan 3-0 Mick McGowan
Colin Lloyd 3-2 Kevin Dowling
Martyn Turner 3-1 Lee Williams
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Mark Tiller
Adrian Gray 3-2 Jamie Robinson
Dave Smith 3-2 Denis Ovens
Andy Smith 3-1 Russell Mason
Terry Jenkins 3-0 Mark Carter
Tony Eccles 3-1 Colin Monk
Gary Noonan 3-1 Pete Allen
Mervyn King 3-1 Ian Walters
James Wade 3-0 Andy Mason
Alan Warriner-Little 3-0 Stuart Holden
Jan van der Rassel 3-2 Ronnie Baxter
Brendan Dolan 3-1 Shayne Burgess
Roland Scholten 3-0 Graeme Stoddart
Ricky Williams 3-0 Steve Beaton
Barrie Bates 3-1 Chris Thompson
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Danny Pinhorne
Andy Hamilton 3-0 Lee Palfreyman
Wayne Atwood 3-1 Mark Walsh
Peter Manley 3-2 John Ferrell
Steve Hine 3-1 Wes Newton
Kevin McDine 3-1 David Platt
Peter Wright 3-1 Dave Askew
Alan Tabern 3-0 Michael Barnard
Carlos Rodriguez 3-0 Kirk Shepherd
Losers £75
Third Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Steve Maish
Chris Mason 3-2 Colin Osborne
Wayne Mardle 3-0 John MaGowan
Martyn Turner 3-0 Colin Lloyd
Adrian Lewis 3-2 Adrian Gray
Andy Smth 3-0 Dave Smith
Terry Jenkins 3-2 Tony Eccles
Mervyn King 3-1 Gary Noonan
James Wade 3-0 Alan Warriner-Little
Jan van der Rassel 3-1 Brendan Dolan
Roland Scholten 3-1 Ricky Williams
Vincent van der Voort 3-0 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Wayne Atwood
Steve Hine 3-1 Peter Manley
Kevin McDine 3-0 Peter Wright
Alan Tabern 3-2 Carlos Rodriguez
Losers £150
Fourth Round
Phil Taylor 3-0 Chris Mason
Wayne Mardle 3-1 Martyn Turner
Adrian Lewis 3-2 Andy Smith
Mervyn King 3-0 Terry Jenkins
James Wade 3-2 Jan van der Rassel
Roland Scholten 3-1 Vincent van der Voort
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Steve Hine
Kevin McDine 3-1 Alan Tabern
Losers £300
Quarter-Finals
Phil Taylor 3-0 Wayne Mardle
Adrian Lewis 3-1 Mervyn King
James Wade 3-1 Roland Scholten
Andy Hamilton 3-0 Kevin McDine
Losers £600
Semi-Finals
Phil Taylor 3-0 Adrian Lewis
James Wade 3-2 Andy Hamilton
Losers £1,250
Final
Phil Taylor 3-0 James Wade (2-1, 2-0, 2-0)
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500