Career
MaGowan reached the final of the Isle of Manitoba Open in 1994, losing to Mick Manning. In 1997, MaGowan reached the quarter finals of the Dutch Open and the WDF World Cup as well as the 1998 Norway Open. MaGowan"s only major tournament in the BDO International came in the 2001 World Masters, losing in the first round to John Walton.
Shortly afterwards, MaGowan switched to the Personal Digital Cellular and in his first tournament, he reached the semi finals of the United Kingdom Open Scottish Regional Final.
A quarter final in the 2003 Eastbourne Pro followed and MaGowan played in the 2003 United Kingdom Open where he entered the third round outright but lost to Wayne Jones. He then played in the 2003 World Grand Prix in Dublin, losing in the first round to Wayne Mardle.
He then beat Steve Hine, Steve Johnson, and Steve Evans before losing to Kevin Painter. MaGowan qualified for the 2005 World Grand Prix and beat Alan Caves and then Peter Manley to reach the quarter finals.
The run though was temporarily halted when he travelled to his son"s wedding by helicopter before returning to the Citywest Hotel for his quarter-final game with Dennis Smith but the fatigue obviously got to him as he was beaten 4–0.
MaGowan qualified for the 2006 Personal Digital Cellular World Darts Championship where he lost to Dennis Priestley in the first round. He collected £7,500 in prize money. He then managed to qualify for the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic and beat Gerry Convery in the first round before losing to Chris Mason in the second round.
His 2007 United Kingdom Open campaign began in the third round but was beaten 11–1 by van Barneveld.
In 2008 MaGowan wrote darts history by throwing a 9-dart finish at the Personal Digital Cellular Players Championship in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Aged 67 he became the oldest darts-player to throw a 9-darter in an official tournament.
He went on to reach the quarter finals. He returned to Dublin for the 2008 World Grand Prix but lost in the first round to Colin Osborne 1–2.
He defeated Mason 3–0 in the first round but lost to Priestley in the second round 1–4.
MaGowan withdrew from the 2011 United Kingdom Open, where he was due to play Shaun Griffiths in the first round, after suffering a hip injury. He has not played in any Personal Digital Cellular tournaments since, and at the 2011 World Grand Prix, commentator John Gwynne suggested that MaGowan had retired from professional darts.
