[4] At the fifth Players Championship of the year Payne recorded wins over three-time world champion John Part and 2012 UK Open winner Robert Thornton to reach the last 16 of a PDC event for the first time, where he was whitewashed 6–0 by Mervyn King.
[9] At the 2015 UK Open, Payne defeated Lionel Sams 5–3, Dave Prins 5–4 and Andy Jenkins 9–6 to play in the fourth round, where Mensur Suljović beat him 9–4.
[10] Payne beat Wayne Jones, Stephen Bunting and Michael Smith at the Dutch Darts Masters to play in the quarter-finals of a PDC event for the first time, where he lost 6–4 to Justin Pipe.
[14] In May, Payne beat Gerwyn Price, Ronny Huybrechts, Wes Newton, Mensur Suljović and Steve Brown to play in the final of the sixth Players Championship.
[17] Payne qualified for his first World Championship in the 2017 event through the Pro Tour Order of Merit and he won the first set versus Terry Jenkins.