Simon Whitlock quarter-finals. He then beat Brian Woods to reach the final, where he lost to the number one seed Mark Webster 7–5. He was the first Australian to reach the final since Tony David won the tournament in 2002. Whitlock entered the 2009 BDO World Darts Championship as the number 12 seed and reached the second round by beating Mark Barilli, but lost to Darryl Fitton. After many weeks of speculation, Whitlock returned to the PDC on 19 March 2009. He began playing in the AGP circuit where he won eight tournaments. He qualified for the Las Vegas Desert Classic but
2009 Grand Slam of Darts Corporation met and decreed that he would not be invited to any future tournaments. An invitation to compete in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts was also awarded to: Simon Whitlock topped the Dart Players Australia Order of Merit, but had already secured his place in the Grand Slam as the 2008 BDO World Championship runner-up. Steve Macarthur, who came second, was not awarded an invitation. The PDC North American Order of Merit ranks all of the North American dart players based on the amount of prize money that they have won from tournaments held in the USA and Canada.