 After needing a tie-break to beat René Eidams in the first round of the 2016 World Championship, Van Gerwen recorded 109.23, the fourth-highest average ever recorded in the event during a 4–0 whitewash over Darren Webster.In the third round, he took out a 135 finish to send his tie with Van Barneveld to a deciding set.Van Barneveld went 2–0 up in legs before Van Gerwen threw a 10-dart leg, but he missed one dart to level the game in the next leg allowing his Dutch rival to finish on 96 to knock him out.