Lethal Luke Humphries reckons it’s a shame there are no Scots starring at the Hydro.
But the World No.1 aims to fill the Tartan void and laugh his way to a second-straight Premier League triumph. Humphries and World champ Luke Littler headline the Glasgow showcase as the darts spectacular rolls into Scotland.
For the first time, there are no home players involved with Gary Anderson and Peter Wright not involved in the competition. The partisan nature of the event will be dimmed, but the party will still swing as Cool Hand and Co hit the stage. Humphries can’t wait and said: “It’s a shame there are no Scots in the Premier League. There are so many great Scots over the last 10 years who have played in it.
“Unfortunately the standard has not been there from them, except from Gary Anderson, who is the only one who would have got asked. If he would have been played, it would have been great.
“Of course, it’s a shame there are none, but I am really looking forward to playing in Glasgow. Always create a great atmosphere.
“I really like the Scottish people. I think they are really good. They are always up for a laugh. They are a great craic. I am looking forward to playing there.”
Humphries won week one in Belfast and, as well as hunting another success, he and his rivals have their eyes on a solid-gold prize.
Tournament sponsors BetMGM will reward any player who smashes the perfect leg during this year’s season with a custom-made set of 18ct gold arrows.
Worth £30,000 and made bespoke by Humphrey and Hawkins, the prize is up for grabs for any of the eight players who achieve the finish which has been done 16 times in the tournament’s 20-year history.
In addition, it can be won multiple times during the 17 weeks and Littler cracked one in last year’s Final against Humphries.
The Masters champ said: “I wish you hadn’t told me about that, as I probably won’t hit one! £30,000 worth of gold? Is it? You shouldn’t have told me that. It makes you appreciate how lucky you are. Big business. Big companies are sponsoring these events.
“BetMGM have been a massive, massive bonus for us as a sponsor. It’s like Paddy Power with the Worlds. They make the tournament better. It’s all a bit of fun, it’s great. We all want to win.
“The sponsors that the PDC have brought to the majors have made it even better I think. Little incentives like that, it’s very nice for them to do that.
“For me it’s not about the money or what they are worth. I want to win those darts for the fact it would be nice to have them in your house. Little things like that are really nice. I’d rather have that than £30,000 in cash.”
Humphries is fresh after sitting out Tuesday’s second ProTour event which was won by Gerwyn Price.
The Welshman geared up perfectly for Glasgow at the second Players Championship event with an 8-7 Final win over Chris Dobey having also beaten Littler during the run.
Price has recently started working with a sports psychologist and credits that for his recent success on tour.
He said: “Sometimes I just gave up, rolled over and had my belly tickled, but my mentality and the way I think has changed.
“Especially against Luke. He took out a 167 and I should have been 3-0 up and then he’s 5-4 up. I’m thinking: Just stick in there. I knew I was scoring well and I would get opportunities and I came through that game.
“I did get a little bit of help with sports psychology before the World Championship which really helped. Now I’m getting back to my best. There’s a lot more positivity in my game and it seems to be working.”