Luke Woodhouse did the ‘right thing’ by not listening to the crowd and winning his match with a 170 checkout.
That’s the verdict of two-time World Darts Championship semi-finalist Chris Mason, as Woodhouse breezed past Lourence Ilagan in his first round encounter.
Leading 2-0 and with the third and final set tied at 2-2, Woodhouse had the opportunity to seal the match with the big fish.
Knowing what was possible, the crowd inside the Alexandra Palace roared Woodhouse on in the hopes of seeing him hit the bullseye to complete the 170 checkout.
Even the cameraman expected Woodhouse to go for it, as the camera zoomed in on the bullseye.
But it quickly zoomed out and revealed Woodhouse had instead opted to play it safe and hit 18, with Ilagan on 254.
The crowd voiced their displeasure and Woodhouse happily played along.
Ilagan was unable to make a significant dent on Woodhouse’s lead, gifting the latter another chance to close out the match with 32 required.
Woodhouse missed D16 but made no mistake on D8 to record the comprehensive victory and seal a spot in the second round against World Grand Prix champ Mike De Decker.
Although Woodhouse was in cruise control throughout the contest, Mason believed he was wise to not play the role of showman when presented with the big fish.
“It’s one of those,” Mason told talkSPORT.com.
“Listen, you want to, but it’s not an exhibition.
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“So often you’ve seen players go for a flamboyant shot at a crucial moment. Even though he was in cruise control in terms of being two sets up, it was 2-2 in legs.
“You want to do it for the crowd, but you know the right thing to do is lay up because you could go for the bull and hit a three to leave 47. You go down for a 15, you could shank it one way or another. Then you give your opponent an opportunity to get back in the match.
“He made the right choice, but inside, I can assure you he’d have loved to have done it just for them.”
Mason added: “I think some of your more flamboyant players would have probably just gone for it and give the crowd what they want.
“But I think the more reserved players who are all business, you just don’t get involved.”
Speaking in his post-match interview, Woodhouse conceded he was ‘a little bit tempted’ to reel in the big fish, but felt it was wiser to make the percentage play.
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“The fans know, everyone knows,” Woodhouse said.
“If it was 2-0 up to me and 2-1 up in that last set, I might have just gone for it.
“But at 2-2, I didn’t want to give him a chance to hit a 180 or whatever and set it up. I thought I’d set it up and give myself a chance.”
Woodhouse’s win over Ilagan continues his solid form in the final months of the year, which peaked with a semi-final appearance at the European Championships.
It’s why the Worcerstershire native believes anything is possible at this year’s World Championship, especially given the success of his next opponent De Decker, Ritchie Edhouse and Martin Lukeman, who have all won or made a final of a PDC premier event in recent months.
“On tour, everyone knows, within a certain bracket of players, everyone can play,” Woodhouse said.
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“But being able to go and do it and take it to the next level is a different thing.
“So seeing them go and get to the final, nobody’s got that fear of doing it anymore.
“It used to be you’d get to a certain point, ‘Oh, you’ve got (Michael) Van Gerwen, you’ve got Gerwyn Price.’
“I think everyone’s thinking, ‘It could be my time.'”
Woodhouse’s second round match against De Decker takes place in Tuesday’s afternoon session.