Stephen Bunting will face Alex Spellman in the final first-round match of the 2026 US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
The St Helens thrower has been placed in the bottom half of the New York draw, with his opener scheduled for 10.45pm local time after Jonny Clayton’s meeting with Gary Mawson.
Bunting is one of eight PDC representatives in the 16-player World Series event, which pairs the invited PDC names against North American qualifiers in the opening round. Spellman arrives as one of the home-continent challengers looking to turn a one-night upset into a Friday run.
Bunting’s MSG route
The draw gives Bunting a potential quarter-final against either Luke Humphries or Leonard Gates if he comes through the opening session. That would put him on the defending champion’s side of the bracket, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all due on Friday.
According to the published US Darts Masters draw and schedule, Bunting v Spellman closes the Thursday card, following Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price, James Wade, Josh Rock, Gian van Veen, Clayton and Humphries in the first-round running order.
For Bunting, the assignment is clear: avoid being the late-session PDC casualty and earn a Friday shot at the business end in New York.
