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| This is the fourth time in five years Phil Taylor has won the Grand Slam |
But even by his standards, his emphatic 16-4 win against Gary Anderson in the Grand Slam of Darts final was extraordinary.
Once Taylor was ahead, there was never any chance of the Scot Anderson launching a comeback as the 15-time world champion simply never let him.
There is not much more Anderson could have done, although his checkout percentage was almost half that of Taylor's and that was a crucial factor.
But overall, Taylor simply outplayed Anderson and would have beaten anyone on this form.
Whenever he was given the chance to break Anderson's heart and hit a crucial checkout, he took it.
That is Taylor all over. He demoralises his opponents and makes even world-class talents like Anderson look ordinary.
He was on target to break the world record average for a major final before struggling on his doubles in the final leg, but his end average of 109.04 is almost untouchable. To beat him, someone would have had to have played the match of their life.
This victory would have been very sweet for Taylor after he was written off earlier in the year.
After defeats to Mark Webster in the World Championship quarter-final, Adrian Lewis in the Premier League semi-final and Paul Nicholson in the UK Open, many declared Taylor was finished and would start slipping down the rankings. More fool them.
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| Taylor is undoubtedly the best darts player of all time |
At 51, he should now be on the decline but he is showing no signs of that and if anything he is getting even better.
The competition has certainly improved but so has Taylor and there is no end in sight for his dominance.
The Grand Slam was not all about Taylor, though.
After struggling since winning the Premier League in May, Anderson will be delighted to have reached the final in Wolverhampton and should now have the confidence to launch a real challenge for the World Championships at Alexandra Palace, where he finished runner-up last year.
His 180 scoring alone is enough to worry any player - even Taylor - and if he can get more consistency on his doubles, there's no reason he can't challenge Taylor if he is slightly off his best.
The Grand Slam in general is proving more popular every year and that is in large part down to the BDO players who compete.
This is the only major tournament the PDC and BDO players can compete against each other, and is therefore unique because of that.
Last year, Scott Waites of the BDO won the tournament and this year the likes of Dean Winstanley, Ted Hankey and Martin Phillips all impressed.
It is great to see all the world's best players - excluding Martin Adams - competing in the same tournament but the fact the last remaining four players were from the PDC shows that is the corporation still very much in the ascendancy.
Hankey provided much of the highlights of the tournament, with his antics on stage making him the ideal PDC player.
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| Hankey beat Raymond van Barneveld and Ian White in the group stage |
The fans at Wolverhampton have always given him a tough time but, to the amazement of all, warmed to him this year.
They recognise he is box office and exactly the type of character the game needs, although it did seem a tad strange when they were singing his name and booing his opponent rather than the other way round.
His match against Michael van Gerwen in the second round was fantastic.
Hankey tried every trick in the book to put the 22-year-old starlet off his game but it seemed as though the Dutchman was going to win at 7-5 up.
Hankey tried slowing him down and even almost fell over in the early exchanges, but van Gerwen seemed unperturbed until the final few legs.
Two-time BDO champion Hankey came back to win a nail-biter 10-9 to a raucous atmosphere which surely must have whetted his appetite for a permanent PDC switch.
As for van Gerwen, this was a very positive tournament for him after superb group stage wins against Scott Waites and Tony O'Shea, and it appears he is finally beginning to live up to his huge potential.
Hankey eventually lost a superb quarter-final against Mark Walsh 16-14 after almost launching an incredible comeback.
He was 15-9 down in a race to 16 match, and missed three darts at a double to force a dramatic final leg decider.
It was good to see Walsh in the semi-finals though as his talent deserves more performances like this in major tournaments, and he was unlucky to eventually lose out to Anderson.
Paul Nicholson again had a good tournament although he will have been disappointed by his 16-7 quarter-final loss to arch-rival Taylor.
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| Nicholson is fast becoming one of the most feared players in darts |
Nicholson is improving with every tournament he plays though and if he continues in this vein of form he may well live up to his own billing as a future world champion.
His image as the 'bad boy of darts' is slowly turning around as he is largely letting his darts do the talking after some trash talk against Taylor earlier in the year.
He infamously said he was sick of Taylor "spitting his dummy out" and vowed to "put him to bed", and while he has calmed down slightly he remains box office and one of the players fans always want to see in action.
World champion Adrian Lewis has slightly stuttered since his stunning World Championship triumph last year but he was back to his best in Wolverhampton.
He was no match for Taylor, who beat him 16-9 in the semi-final, but produced some fantastic performances throughout the tournament to make him a major contender for the World Championship.
Finally, it was great to see some of darts' younger players competing on the big stage.
19-year-old James Hubbard - who looks more like a boy band member than a darts player - impressed in his three group stage games and looks like a star of the future.
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| Hubbard took a leg off Taylor in their group stage encounter |
For now though, the man they all must try to catch is Taylor.
He will be more determined than ever to pick up an incredible 16th world title next month, and on this form, it is hard to see anyone stopping him.
Taylor is simply a phenomenon and judging by his displays in Wolverhampton, he is nowhere near finished yet.
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