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
Simon Whitlock over a year at the 12th Players Championship by beating James Wade 6–3 in the final. He won through to the final of the European Darts Open, but lost 6–2 against Wright. At the World Matchplay, Whitlock recorded wins over Kevin Painter, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade (after being 5–0 down in the latter two) to reach the semi-finals of the event for the second time, with Whitlock stating he was playing his best darts in five years. He was defeated 17–13 by Michael van Gerwen and also lost to the Dutchman in the final of the Singapore Darts