He's long plied his trade on the global stage, but Aussie darts pioneer Simon Whitlock has never forgotten where he started. He wears a daily reminder around his neck.
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It's often hidden by his trademark Merlin-like beard that's earned him his famous 'Wizard' moniker, but the gold nugget he earned with six straight victories in the famed Tennant Creek 'Golden Nugget' tournament between 2002 and 2007 is a permanent fixture on his chest.
The tournament offers a cool 20k if you can produce a nine-darter. Not bad for a town of barely 3000.
Along the way he's also collected the Southern Illawarra Open (2007, 2009), the Illawarra Yacht Club Classic (2009) and Unanderra Hotel Darts Open (2010). Talk about paying your dues.
"When I was here I travelled all over the country," Whitlock told The Mercury.
"You name it, north, south, east, west. It's where I won the gold nugget there in Tennant Creek. It's a great tournament, it's in the middle of nowhere but we'd go absolutely anywhere for a game."
Such victories came in between trips abroad taking on the likes of Phil 'The Power' Taylor, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld on all the major PDC tournaments.
It was only after a run to the final of the 2010 World Championships that he could finally call it a job.
"I was a little fish in a massive pond," he said.
"I wanted to be professional as soon as I started but I was nowhere near good enough. The dream was there but with all that dedication and desire to get there is what actually got me there.
"I got runner up in the world championships which gave me a lot of money so I could actually fund myself to go and do it and that led to other things.
"I got into the Premier League straight away and it suddenly all sort of fell into my lap. It's really grown over the last 13 years since I've been [in Europe] and so has the talent.
"We used to get a few easy games when I first went over.
"You could safely guarantee you'd win a couple of games and win some money. Now it's ridiculously hard. The top 128 players who've got tour cards, any of them can beat anyone on their day."
That latter fact, one that still allows for stories like his, is what he loves about the sport.
"That's the great thing about it, you can come from nowhere, qualify, and next thing you're playing for a world championship," Whitlock said.
One of the more recent examples is West Aussie roofer Damon Heta who, as a qualifier, beat Whitlock, Wade and Gary Anderson en route to the 2019 Brisbane Masters Title, becoming the first non-tour card holder to win a world series event.
In a watershed moment for Australian darts, Whitlock and Heta combined to claim the PDC World Cup of darts in June, a decade after Whitlock first made the Cup final alongside Paul Nicholson.
The Wizard doesn't hesitate the call it biggest honour of his career.
"It was such a special moment to actually play for your country and to then win for it is even better," he said.
"You can't even describe it it's an amazing feeling.
"When you first start you want to be a world champion and you want to play for your country and all those things but actually getting there is another thing altogether.
"It's a dream but when the dream actually happens it's quite incredible."
It sees both men bringing strong form into the Australian leg of the PDC World Tour that began with the Queensland Darts Masters in Townsville last weekend and comes to Wollongong for the NSW Darts Masters to be held at the WEC starting Friday.
The pandemic has prevented the tour from returning to Australia for three years, making the chance to play in front of Aussie crowds extra special.
Wollongong fans promise to provide a raucous atmosphere, but Whitlock has long learned to block it out.
"The crowd's are so loud but, when we walk out, we don't really hear or notice the crowd," he said.
"You're up there concentrating and it's just one big loud mass of voices and screams.
"It doesn't really bother you, but when you can hear one person, that's when it annoys you.
"If there's one idiot in the crowd who wants to put you off, you'll hear them."
It's perhaps where all those years of practice in Tennant Creek come in handy.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
