World Grand Prix of Darts 2015: Winner, Prize Money, Final Scores and Results

Robert Thornton defeated Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Grand Prix of Darts 2015 on Sunday in a thriller, beating the defending champion 5-4 after nine hard-fought sets.

The action went back and forth, but the Thorn proved himself to be the better man on the doubles when it mattered, despite Van Gerwen's explosive scoring.

Thornton will receive a cool £100,000 for his win, while Mighty Mike will have to make do with £45,000, per the PDC's official website.

Van Gerwen kicked things off with a bang, recording back-to-back 180s in the opening leg to show he meant business on Sunday, via the PDC's official Twitter account:

The Dutchman had never lost a World Grand Prix final and looked in stunning form early, winning the first set without dropping a single leg. He had four 180s in that set, and Thornton knew he'd have to be at his best to stop Mighty Mike from claiming his third World Grand Prix title.

Van Gerwen missed the checkout in the first leg of the second set, allowing Thornton to take out double five for his first leg. The two traded blows until a decider, where the Thorn started with six perfect darts of 160 and 180 and easily took out double 16 to get on the board.

Target Darts were more focused on the local favourite's look:

The third set played out in similar fashion, with Van Gerwen taking an early lead but Thornton starting to find the maximum. Another decider followed, and once again, the Thorn opened with a 160 and kept his cool, finishing double two to take a shock lead.

It was short-lived, however, as Mighty Mike turned up the pace and leveled things up in three quick legs.

Van Gerwen seemed ready to break out, but Thornton slowed down the pace of the match in the fifth set, taking the first leg double-tops.

The Dutchman answered with a 101 checkout and his 11th maximum, but he also started making mistakes, including five misses on the doubles to hand the fifth set to his opponent.

Ladbrokes was on the edge of its seat:

For the third time, Van Gerwen came back with a clean sweep, taking all three legs in the sixth set, but it almost seemed as if Thornton was saving up his best darts for the sets he truly had to win.

Coming back from a 2-0 deficit, the Scotsman forced another decider and took advantage of two misses on the doubles for Mighty Mike, taking out 74 to move within one set of a colossal upset.

As shared by Sky Sports Darts, double 16 was working nicely for the Thorn:

Now in a must-win situation, the defending champion forced a deciding set by easily winning the eight, finding a 17th 180 along the way—the highest number in a match in this year's tournament, per the PDC's official Twitter account.

Tied at 1-1, Van Gerwen missed the checkout, allowing Thornton to steal the leg and move within one of the win.

A 180 followed, and via the PDC's official Twitter account, the Scot stepped up and calmly finished the match:

As shared by Live Darts, Thornton had nothing but respect for Van Gerwen after the match:

It's the Thorn's first win in a Premier Event since 2012, when he took home the UK Open, and the title couldn't have come at a better time, as it should boost his chances of grabbing a Premier League spot.

The loss is a big setback for Van Gerwen in his first-ever in a final in Dublin, but the Order of Merit leader likely won't lose too much sleep over it given his incredible success in 2015.

He remains the favourite in just about every tournament he enters, and he will be keen to win next month's Grand Slam of Darts—one of the few events he's yet to win. 

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