Andy Boulton
Scottish darts player (born 1973)
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Andrew Boulton (born 25 February 1973) is a Scottish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "X-Factor", he has won four titles on the PDC Challenge Tour and has participated in both the PDC World Darts Championship and the BDO World Darts Championship.
Stoke-On-Trent, England
| Andy Boulton | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Full name | Andrew Boulton | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "X-Factor" | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 February 1973 Stoke-On-Trent, England | ||||||||||||||
| Home town | Ardrossan, Scotland | ||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 1991 | ||||||||||||||
| Darts | 23g Showtime | ||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Juicy Wiggle" by Redfoo | ||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||
| BDO | 2004–2015 | ||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2015–present (Tour Card: 2015–2017, 2019–2022, 2025–present) | ||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | (PDC) 80 | ||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Last 16: 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 16: 2006 | ||||||||||||||
| Finder Masters | Group Stage: 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Last 64: 2016, 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Last 16: 2011 | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Group Stage: 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| PC Finals | Last 32: 2020, 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Career
BDO, UK Open appearances
Boulton made his PDC major debut at the 2005 UK Open, starting in the preliminary round and reaching the third round. He was eliminated after a 5–1 loss to Colin Osborne.[2] He made his BDO World Championship debut at the 2008 edition, eliminating 10th seed Martin Atkins in the first round.[3] He lost to Ted Hankey in the second round. In March 2008, he won the North Lanarkshire Open by beating Robert Thornton 4–1 in the final.[4]
Boulton qualified for the 2009 UK Open as a pub qualifier.[5] He beat Darren Latham 6–5 in the first round but lost 6–4 to Wes Newton in the second round.[6] Later that year, he claimed the Granite City Open title in Aberdeen by beating former world champion John Walton in the final.[7]
Boulton suffered first-round defeats at the 2011 and 2012 BDO World Championships, losing to Robbie Green and Scott Waites.[8][9] However, in the PDC, Boulton reached the last 16 of the 2011 UK Open.[10]
PDC
After years of mainly playing in the BDO, Boulton officially crossed over to the PDC in 2015, winning a PDC Tour Card at Q-School by topping the Q-School Order of Merit.[11] He qualified for the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts, getting through the PDC Qualifier that was held to fill the last eight spots.[12] He was drawn into Group E with Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld and Larry Butler, but failed to win a match.[13] Boulton qualified for the 2016 PDC World Championship through the PDPA Qualifier, which saw him enter the preliminary round of the tournament.[14] After beating Per Laursen to progress to the first round, he lost 3–0 to defending champion Gary Anderson.[15]
He reached his first PDC European Tour semi-final at the 2018 European Darts Matchplay – defeating Cristo Reyes, Steve Beaton, Jelle Klaasen and Gerwyn Price en route. In his semi-final match, he lost 7–3 to William O'Connor.[16]
After losing his Tour Card at the end of 2017, Boulton regained it at 2019 Q-School.[17] He returned to Alexandra Palace at the 2020 PDC World Championship, but was defeated 3–2 by debutant Danny Baggish in the first round.[18]
At the 2021 PDC World Championship, Boulton was drawn to play three-time women's world finalist Deta Hedman in the first round.[19] He defeated Hedman 3–2, reaching the second round of the competition for the first time.[20] He was eliminated after losing to Stephen Bunting. The same year, Boulton switched his allegiance from England to Scotland on residency grounds after previously living in England for many years.[21]
After losing his Tour Card again at the end of 2022, Boulton saw success on the PDC Challenge Tour. He won two titles on the 2023 Challenge Tour at event 3 and event 23.[22][23] On 16 March 2024, Boulton claimed two Challenge Tour titles on the same day, winning events 8 and 9.[24]
Boulton won his Tour Card back at 2025 Q-School after finishing eighth on the UK Q-School Order of Merit.[25]
World Championship performances
BDO
- 2008: Second round (lost to Ted Hankey 1–4)
- 2011: First round (lost to Robbie Green 0–3)
- 2012: First round (lost to Scott Waites 1–3)
PDC
- 2016: First round (lost to Gary Anderson 0–3)
- 2020: First round (lost to Danny Baggish 2–3)
- 2021: Second round (lost to Stephen Bunting 2–3)
Performance timeline
BDO
PDC
| Tournament | 2005 | 2009 | 2011 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | BDO | 1R | DNQ | 1R | 2R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Not held | Did not qualify | Prel. | Prel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | 3R | 2R | 5R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | DNQ | 3R | 5R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 2R | 4R | |||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | NH | Did not qualify | RR | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | NH | Did not qualify | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking (PDC) | - | - | - | - | - | 72 | 58 | 62 | 81 | 51 | 56 | 82 | 116 | 114 | ||||||||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | GDC 2R |
GDT DNQ |
GDM 1R |
Did not qualify | ||||||||||
| 2016 | Did not qualify | EDO 2R |
IDO 1R |
EDT 1R |
EDG 1R |
GDC 1R | ||||||||
| 2017 | Did not qualify | GDG 1R |
IDO DNQ |
EDT QF | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Did not qualify | EDG 1R |
DDM DNQ |
GDT 3R |
DDO DNQ |
EDM SF |
GDC 1R |
DDC 1R |
IDO DNQ |
EDT DNQ | ||||
| 2019 | EDO DNQ |
GDC 2R |
Did not qualify | DDM 1R |
Did not qualify | IDO 1R |
GDT DNQ | |||||||
| 2020 | BDC 1R |
Did not qualify | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO 1R |
Did not qualify | DDC 1R |
Did not qualify | ||||||||||
| 2023 | BSD DNQ |
EDO 2R |
IDO 1R |
GDG 1R |
ADO DNQ |
DDC 1R |
Did not qualify | HDT 1R |
GDC DNQ | |||||
| 2025 | Did not qualify | GDG 1R |
Did not qualify | |||||||||||
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
COV QF |
COV 1R |
COV 1R |
CRA 2R |
CRA 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
WIG DNP |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
DUB 4R |
DUB 3R |
COV 3R |
COV 1R | |||||||||||||||
| 2016 | BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
COV 2R |
COV 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
DUB 3R |
DUB 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
MIL SF |
MIL 3R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
DUB 2R |
DUB 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R | ||||||||||||
| 2018[nb 1] | Did not participate | BAR 3R |
DUB DNP |
DUB 2R |
BAR DNP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | WIG 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 4R |
WIG 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
WIG 2R |
WIG QF |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR QF |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 4R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 4R |
BAR QF |
DUB 2R |
DUB 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R | ||||
| 2020 | BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
NIE 2R |
NIE 4R |
NIE 2R |
NIE 3R |
NIE 2R |
COV 3R |
COV 2R |
COV 3R |
COV 1R |
COV SF | |||||||||||
| 2021 | BOL 1R |
BOL 3R |
BOL 1R |
BOL 2R |
MIL 3R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
NIE 2R |
NIE 2R |
NIE SF |
NIE 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
COV 2R |
COV 2R |
COV 1R |
COV 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R | ||||
| 2022 | BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
NIE 2R |
NIE 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 3R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 2R |
NIE 1R |
NIE 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 4R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R | ||||
| 2023[nb 1] | BAR DNP |
BAR 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 4R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 1R |
LEI DNP |
HIL 2R |
HIL 3R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 2R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R | ||||||
| 2024[nb 1] | Did not participate | LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 3R |
MIL SF |
MIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 3R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 3R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 2R | |||||||||
| 2025 | WIG 1R |
WIG 1R |
ROS 2R |
ROS 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 1R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
ROS 2R |
ROS 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 2R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL 3R |
HIL 1R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
HIL 2R |
HIL 3R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 2R |
LEI 2R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 1R |
- Not a Tour card holder
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||