The 27-year-old Van Gerwen never looked in any real danger against Scotland's Anderson during a contest that included 42 maximums of 180 - a world record for a single darts match.
"I feel absolutely over the moon. I had to find my A game," 'Mighty Mike' Van Gerwen told Sky Sports. "My average of 108 says it all - it was incredible for everyone."
An intruder who climbed on to the stage in the ninth set seemed to briefly break Van Gerwen's concentration but the Dutchman ended a three-year wait for a second world title by hitting the bullseye to seal a comfortable victory.
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World number two Anderson, 46, was aiming to match Eric Bristow (1984-86) and Phil Taylor (1995-2002 & 2004-06) by becoming the third man to win three successive world titles.
"It's well deserved for Michael with the year he's had, but I've had a good three years," said Anderson. "At 2-2 I just started to drop and got punished."
(Writing by Ken Ferris; Editing by Larry Fine)
