PDC Masters Darts 2017: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Friday

Phil Taylor won his first match of the 2017 darts season on Friday, beating Michael Smith 10-6 in the first round of the PDC Masters Darts. 

The Power started the night by dropping a bombshell, announcing he'll retire at the end of this season, per PDC Darts:

Raymond van Barneveld cruised to a win over Dave Chisnall, and Gary Anderson easily took care of business against Benito van de Pas. In the final match of the day, Ian White couldn't keep up with Peter "Snakebite" Wright.

Here's a look at Friday's results:

Dave Chisnall	5-10	Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor	10-6	Michael Smith
Gary Anderson	10-3	Benito van de Pas
Peter Wright	10-5	Ian White

The schedule for Saturday:

Mensur Suljovic	vs.	Jelle Klaasen
James Wade	vs.	Robert Thornton
Michael van Gerwen	vs.	Simon Whitlock
Adrian Lewis	vs.	Kim Huybrechts

Recap

Chizzy started the night in impressive fashion by winning the first two legs in his match against Van Barneveld, but the in-form Dutchman soon showed his class.

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Barney tied things up and took his first lead of the match on double eight. He continued his superb run by winning seven straight legs, upholding a solid average along the way.

Chisnall finally ended the run after the interval, but at that point, Barney was unstoppable. Despite a 74 finish to hit back and make it 9-5, Van Barneveld closed the deal with an average just under 100.

Here's a look at the final dart, per the PDC's official Twitter account:

As Live Darts shared, Van Barneveld is excited about the new darts season:

Taylor also didn't miss his start to the season. The veteran landed a 133 checkout to take the opening leg against Michael Smith, and a 91 checkout doubled his advantage.

Smith rallied back by taking three legs in a row, including one with an 11-darter, but Taylor made the most of his chances after the interval to edge back in front.

Alex Pantling/Getty Images

The best was still to come for The Power, who produced an 11-darter of his own and increased his average to over 106 toward the end of the match and pulled away late.

Per Live Darts, Taylor confirmed he's using a new type of dart for his final season:

Anderson produced arguably the best performance of the night, knocking out Van de Pas with minimal effort. The Flying Scotsman lost just three legs and finished with an average just under 110 while converting 53 percent of his doubles.

Most fans were looking forward to the final match of the night that pit two real characters against each other. As Live Darts shared, Wright vs. White did not disappoint:

Snakebite took some time to find his footing, but once he got things going, he was nearly unstoppable. He pushed his advantage to two legs after the interval and upped his scoring even more toward the end of the match, finishing in style with nine 180s in total.

World champion Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock will be in action on Saturday.