Wayne Mardle says Michael van Gerwen will feel "sheer and utter relief" after the Dutchman won the Premier League for his first big PDC title in over 18 months.
Van Gerwen edged out debutant Joe Cullen 11-10 in a dramatic final to clinch his sixth Premier League title on an incredible night of action at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin on Monday.
The 33-year-old - who now returns to the Netherlands for surgery on an arm injury - equalled Phil Taylor's haul of six Premier League titles, as he celebrated victory in a first PDC Premier event for the first time since the Players Championship Finals in 2020.
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"For Van Gerwen, it was sheer and utter relief," Mardle told Sky Sports. "When someone wins all the time it's a case of 'yeah, I'll go there, I'm favourite, I expect to win' and there was definitely that about Van Gerwen up to a few years ago. But now, it doesn't come that easy to him so I think you start to relish it a bit more.
"You start to realise that these moments are special and that was a special win for him. You can tell from the relief from what he's won that he still likes winning and that's nice to see."
Mardle continued: "Without disrespecting other events, this is huge. This is massive. What goes into winning the Premier League. It's 17 weeks of darting graft for them.
"There are harder ways of earning a living, but I'm not saying that. They're away and it takes up so much time it becomes massive. It can become all encapsulating. It can become your whole week for four, five, six months revolving around the Premier League."
On Cullen's performance, he said: "Joe has played so well to actually get to this point with what he did in week 15, then beating Peter Wright in week 16, which eliminated Peter and put himself in and that way he played against Jonny. He played arguably even better in the final, but Van Gerwen found something from somewhere.
"The last leg, I think Joe hit a 59 with his second shot and Michael jumped all over it and that was the difference.
"To come out with more credit to Joe Cullen is testament to how well he played in this whole event.
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Reflecting on the new format of the Premier League, Mardle added: "It's been absolutely brilliant. It's been a joy from the very start.
"That's one of the joyous finals and semi-finals that I can recall. Tonight was sheer darting drama."
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