MICHAEL VAN GERWEN showed great form in the final, winning the first five legs without reply to leave The Wizard reeling, including a 78 finish and an 11-darter to break throw twice, along with a 96 finish for a 14-darter which featured his second 180 of the game.
Whitlock landed his second maximum in leg six before taking out 73 to keep the game alive, but a missed bullseye in the next leg allowed van Gerwen to step in and seal the triumph on double 16.
Whitlock enjoyed his first run to a ranking final since October 2010 with his display in Birmingham, as he maintained the form which saw him reach the McCoy^s Premier League Darts final last month.
He dropped only three legs in wins over Roland Scholten and Mark Dudbridge before seeing off Premier League rival Andy Hamilton 6-3 to reach the last 16.
After surviving an 11-leg battle with Andy Smith, Whitlock then defeated Mervyn King 6-1 in the quarter-finals and Wes Newton 6-3 in the semis as he earned £3,000 prize money on the day.
