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The Ferret was just too good for the rest of the darts world on Thursday night - including world champion Like Littler - and insisted the long evening of brilliance simply felt meant to be.
The march of Clayton - from Pontyberem in Carmarthenshire - to victory was emphatic: he halted a near three-year hoodoo against compatriot Gerwyn Price, dismantled teenage sensation Littler, and then clinically dispatched Dutchman Gian van Veen in the final to surge to the summit of the table with nine points.
“Yeah, it’s a great honour to win one of these nights against these players,” said Clayton.
“The first job was trying to get Gerwyn out…that little thing of losing to him 10 times. That was a big relief really because I’ve had a few chances against him before, but not taken them.
“It was nice to get that monkey off my back. It really was.
“You think, how do I beat him? I need to take my chances, what do I do to do this?
“So, tonight it worked for me, I was quite solid against him and it was just my night and I am chuffed to bits with that. So, tonight I took my chances and it just got better.”
READ MORE: Welsh Pair Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton Backed as Right Picks for Premier League
That release was the platform for everything that followed.
Clayton, 51 and back in the tournament after a two-year absence, opened his campaign in Glasgow by defeating Price 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
He surged 2-0 ahead and kept control at 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 before sealing victory to finally end a 10-match losing sequence against his fellow Welshman.
From there, he shifted up another gear.
Littler, the 19-year-old world number one, advanced straight to the semi-finals following Michael van Gerwen’s withdrawal through illness and briefly levelled their contest at 1-1.
But Clayton produced a ruthless display, storming to a 6-1 win with a clinical edge on the outer ring.
He averaged 101.33 in that contest after posting 99.88 against Price, finishing both matches with checkout rates above 60%.
Even Clayton admitted he had surprised himself.
“I didn’t expect to beat the best darts player on the planet 6-1 and then to beat Gian in the end, you know, it’s my night. It’s my night, and that’s all that counts.
“I was nervous in that first game against Gerwyn. Luke didn’t play to his best but I took my chances and that is the game of darts.
“You need a bit of luck. Obviously you need to play well but if he doesn’t hit and I do, then the ball’s in my court and that’s what happened tonight.
“It put a smile on my face.”
READ MORE: Jonny Clayton And Gerwyn Price Are Out To Nuke The Lukes!
Awaiting him in the final was Van Veen, contesting his second nightly decider in three weeks after edging out reigning champion Luke Humphries 6-5 in a dramatic semi-final.
The Dutchman had earlier averaged more than 104 in brushing aside Stephen Bunting 6-3 and showed resilience to recover from 3-1 down against Humphries, capitalising on a missed bull to force parity at 4-4 before eventually prevailing.
But Clayton proved a different proposition.
He broke throw in the opening leg of the final and again in the seventh, maintaining control throughout.
Although his checkout percentage dipped to 42.86%, his scoring climbed to a 104.35 average, and he sealed the 6-2 success in spectacular fashion with a stunning 156 finish.
That flourish crowned a night in which Clayton followed Price and Van Gerwen as weekly winners this season and moved clear at the top of the embryonic standings.
Speaking earlier in the evening, he had already sensed something special unfolding.
"I felt good, my darts are going. Tonight was my night," Clayton told Sky Sports.
"I'm enjoying myself and when you enjoy what you're doing things seem to happen in you.
"I've got a bit of experience in this tournament, it's my favourite tournament, and I know what I have to do to get to finals night."
Behind him in the standings, Littler and Humphries — widely tipped to dominate the campaign once more — find themselves outside the top four after three weeks, though both remain strong contenders to reach the play-offs at London’s O2 Arena on 28 May.
For Clayton, however, Glasgow belonged entirely to him.
A curse lifted against Price. A demolition of the sport’s brightest young star. A composed, commanding final capped by a jaw-dropping checkout.
Above all, it was the reaction that defined the evening — relief, delight and a broad grin that said everything. As he put it more than once, it was simply his night.
Premier League Darts night three results
Thursday, 19 February - OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Quarter-finals
Stephen Bunting 3-6 Gian van Veen
Luke Humphries 6-2 Josh Rock
Michael van Gerwen v Luke Littler (bye) - Van Gerwen withdraws because of medical issue
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Semi-finals
Van Veen 6-5 Humphries
Littler 1-6 Clayton
Final
Van Veen 2-6 Clayton
