Damon Heta into world's top-10 for first time as Luke Humphries nears top-3 and Stowe Buntz has top-64 in his sights in provisional update to PDC Order of Merit
PDC
After his stunning elimination of Michael van Gerwen at the Grand Slam of Darts, Damon Heta is into the top-10 of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career.
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For van Gerwen himself, he had set himself the goal of entering the World Darts Championship as number one in the world, but after his defeat against Heta, 'Mighty Mike' has to draw a line under this objective. Van Gerwen is currently £34,000 behind number two Peter Wright, while Smith has a £211,000 lead over the Dutchman.
Behind the top three is currently Luke Humphries. He will remain so after the Grand Slam of Darts anyway, but 'Cool Hand Luke' can shave a good portion of ground on Wright and Van Gerwen with a title in Wolverhampton. If Humphries takes the title at the Grand Slam of Darts, then there will be an extra-large contender for the number-one position in the world rankings after the upcoming World Darts Championship.
As for Heta, 'The Heat' started the Grand Slam of Darts as number thirteen in the world. Stephen Bunting (+3 to 21st place) and Josh Rock (+4 to 22nd place) are also going to make a jump. This jump could obviously become much bigger if either of these players manages to win the Grand Slam of Darts, and the same goes for Gary Anderson. The Scot could theoretically rise from 20th place to 10th if he takes the final victory in Wolverhampton.
Newcomer to the world rankings is, of course, Stowe Buntz, who reached the quarter-finals with sensational victories over Peter Wright, Stephen Bunting and Andrew Gilding. This puts the American in at least the 91st spot on the PDC Order of Merit. If he reaches the semifinals, a 71st place even beckons.
Virtual PDC Order of Merit as of 17/11
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| Rank | Name | Prize money |
| 1 | Michael Smith | 1273.25 |
| 2 | Peter Wright | 1096.25 |
| 3 | Michael van Gerwen | 1062.25 |
| 4 | Luke Humphries | 810.5 |
| 5 | Gerwyn Price | 665.75 |
| 6 | Nathan Aspinall | 652.5 |
| 7 | Danny Noppert | 547.75 |
| 8 | Jonny Clayton | 508.5 |
| 9 | Rob Cross | 484 |
| 10 | Damon Heta | 458.25 |
| 10 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 458.25 |
| 12 | Dave Chisnall | 457 |
| 13 | Joe Cullen | 426.75 |
| 14 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 403 |
| 15 | James Wade | 399 |
| 16 | Ryan Searle | 384.75 |
| 17 | Ross Smith | 369.5 |
| 18 | Chris Dobey | 359.75 |
| 19 | Andrew Gilding | 340 |
| 20 | Gary Anderson | 335.75 |
| 21 | Stephen Bunting | 308.75 |
| 22 | Josh Rock | 303 |
| 23 | Jose de Sousa | 296 |
| 23 | Gabriel Clemens | 296 |
| 25 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 290.5 |
| 26 | Martin Schindler | 284.75 |
| 27 | Daryl Gurney | 271.25 |
| 28 | Brendan Dolan | 239 |
| 29 | Raymond van Barneveld | 212.5 |
| 30 | Callan Rydz | 207.75 |
| 31 | Kim Huybrechts | 189.25 |
| 32 | Madars Razma | 160.75 |
| 33 | Alan Soutar | 156 |
| 34 | Martin Lukeman | 145.5 |
| 35 | William O'Connor | 145.25 |
| 36 | Luke Woodhouse | 140.25 |
| 37 | Vincent van der Voort | 137 |
| 38 | Mike De Decker | 136 |
| 39 | Mervyn King | 134.25 |
| 40 | Keane Barry | 131 |
| 41 | Ryan Joyce | 126.25 |
| 42 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 125.75 |
| 43 | Adrian Lewis | 121.25 |
| 44 | Simon Whitlock | 119.75 |
| 45 | Martijn Kleermaker | 117.5 |
| 46 | Mensur Suljovic | 111.5 |
| 47 | Steve Beaton | 110.75 |
| 48 | Jim Williams | 109.75 |
| 49 | Gian van Veen | 108.5 |
| 49 | Rowby-John Rodriguez | 108.5 |
| 51 | Ryan Meikle | 107 |
| 52 | Ricky Evans | 105 |
| 53 | Scott Williams | 102.75 |
| 54 | Ritchie Edhouse | 99 |
| 55 | Jermaine Wattimena | 98.5 |
| 56 | Ian White | 97.75 |
| 57 | Florian Hempel | 86.75 |
| 58 | Adam Gawlas | 86.5 |
| 59 | Steve Lennon | 84 |
| 60 | Matt Campbell | 81.75 |
| 61 | Boris Krcmar | 81.25 |
| 62 | Jamie Hughes | 80.75 |
| 63 | Cameron Menzies | 76.5 |
| 64 | Mickey Mansell | 75.5 |
| 65 | Nathan Rafferty | 69.25 |
| 66 | Darius Labanauskas | 63.75 |
| 67 | Kevin Doets | 62 |
| 68 | Danny Jansen | 59.25 |
| 69 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 57.5 |
| 70 | Lewy Williams | 55.25 |
| 71 | Jeff Smith | 52.75 |
| 72 | Radek Szaganski | 52.5 |
| 73 | Connor Scutt | 52.25 |
| 74 | Scott Waites | 49.5 |
| 75 | Richie Burnett | 48.5 |
| 76 | John O'Shea | 47.75 |
| 77 | Joe Murnan | 47 |
| 78 | Ted Evetts | 43.5 |
| 79 | Devon Petersen | 39 |
| 80 | George Killington | 38.5 |
| 81 | Brian Raman | 36.75 |
| 82 | Jimmy Hendriks | 36.5 |
| 83 | Richard Veenstra | 36 |
| 84 | Bradley Brooks | 35.75 |
| 85 | Jules van Dongen | 35.5 |
| 85 | Jose Justicia | 35.5 |
| 87 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 34.25 |
| 88 | Krzysztof Kciuk | 32.5 |
| 89 | Dylan Slevin | 32.25 |
| 90 | James Wilson | 28.75 |
| 91 | Stowe Buntz | 28.5 |
| 91 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 28.5 |
| 93 | Christian Kist | 28.25 |
| 94 | Lee Evans | 27 |
| 95 | Niels Zonneveld | 26.5 |
| 96 | Ross Montgomery | 25.25 |
| 96 | Keegan Brown | 25.25 |
| 98 | Stephen Burton | 24.25 |
| 99 | Tony Martinez | 23.5 |
| 100 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 23.25 |
| 101 | Daniel Klose | 23 |
| 102 | Shaun Wilkinson | 22.5 |
| 103 | Andy Boulton | 22.25 |
| 104 | Karel Sedlacek | 22 |
| 105 | Chris Landman | 21.25 |
| 105 | Damian Mol | 21.25 |
| 107 | Berry van Peer | 20.75 |
| 108 | Arron Monk | 20 |
| 109 | Jurjen van der Velde | 19.75 |
| 110 | Luc Peters | 18.5 |
| 111 | Robert Owen | 18 |
| 111 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 18 |
| 111 | Pascal Rupprecht | 18 |
| 114 | Cam Crabtree | 17 |
| 115 | Kevin Burness | 16.75 |
| 116 | Jamie Clark | 16 |
| 117 | Graham Usher | 15.75 |
| 118 | Josh Payne | 15.5 |
| 118 | Graham Hall | 15.5 |
| 120 | Darren Webster | 15 |
| 121 | Owen Bates | 14 |
| 122 | Nick Kenny | 13.75 |
| 122 | Adam Smith-Neale | 13.75 |
| 124 | Geert Nentjes | 13.5 |
| 125 | Wesley Plaisier | 13.25 |
| 126 | Darryl Pilgrim | 12.75 |
| 127 | Ronny Huybrechts | 12.25 |
| 128 | Dom Taylor | 11.25 |
| 129 | Owen Roelofs | 11 |
| 130 | Nick Fullwell | 10.25 |
| 131 | Adam Warner | 10 |
| 132 | Danny van Trijp | 9.5 |
| 132 | Vladimir Andersen | 9.5 |
| 134 | Jelle Klaasen | 9 |
| 135 | Robbie Knops | 8.75 |
| 136 | Beau Greaves | 8 |
| 136 | Fallon Sherrock | 8 |
| 138 | Callum Goffin | 7.75 |
| 138 | Nico Kurz | 7.75 |
| 140 | Stefan Bellmont | 7.5 |
| 140 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 7.5 |
| 142 | John Henderson | 7.25 |
| 143 | Robert Grundy | 7 |
| 144 | Niko Springer | 6.5 |
| 145 | Marko Kantele | 6.25 |
| 146 | Thibault Tricole | 6 |
| 147 | Danny Lauby | 5.5 |
| 148 | Martijn Dragt | 5.25 |
| 149 | Haruki Muramatsu | 5 |
| 149 | Nathan Girvan | 5 |
| 149 | Vitezslav Sedlak | 5 |
| 152 | Scott Mitchell | 4.75 |
| 152 | Jacques Labre | 4.75 |
| 152 | Lukas Wenig | 4.75 |
| 155 | James Hurrell | 4.25 |
| 156 | Andy Baetens | 4 |
| 157 | Patrik Kovacs | 3.75 |
| 157 | Roman Benecky | 3.75 |
| 157 | Dalibor Smolik | 3.75 |
| 160 | Roy van de Griendt | 3.25 |
| 161 | Jarred Cole | 3 |
| 161 | Christian Perez | 3 |
| 163 | Ron Meulenkamp | 2.75 |
| 164 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 2.5 |
| 164 | Anton Ostlund | 2.5 |
| 164 | Nandor Major | 2.5 |
| 164 | Sebastian Bialecki | 2.5 |
| 164 | Dennis Nilsson | 2.5 |
| 164 | Hannes Schnier | 2.5 |
| 164 | Dragutin Horvat | 2.5 |
| 164 | Jeroen Mioch | 2.5 |
| 164 | Rene Eidams | 2.5 |
| 164 | Filip Sebesta | 2.5 |
| 164 | Luke Littler | 2.5 |
| 164 | Thomas Banks | 2.5 |
| 176 | Conan Whitehead | 2.25 |
| 177 | Alexander Merkx | 2 |
| 178 | James Richardson | 1.75 |
| 179 | Conor Heneghan | 1.5 |
| 179 | Dan Read | 1.5 |
| 179 | Lewis Gurney | 1.5 |
| 182 | Marcus Kirchmann | 1.25 |
| 182 | Gabor Jagicza | 1.25 |
| 182 | Mihaly Vida | 1.25 |
| 182 | Danny Tessmann | 1.25 |
| 182 | Fabian Herz | 1.25 |
| 182 | Marcel Walpen | 1.25 |
| 182 | David Pisek | 1.25 |
| 182 | Jani Laurila | 1.25 |
| 182 | Francois Schweyen | 1.25 |
| 182 | Sven Hilling | 1.25 |
| 182 | Marcel Hausotter | 1.25 |
| 182 | Dmitry Zukovs | 1.25 |
| 182 | Marcus Haider | 1.25 |
| 182 | Oskar Lukasiak | 1.25 |
| 182 | Tytus Kanik | 1.25 |
| 182 | Paavo Myller | 1.25 |
| 198 | Christopher Holt | 1 |
| 198 | Gary Davey | 1 |
| 198 | Jim McEwan | 1 |
| 198 | Jim Moston | 1 |
| 198 | Jitse Van der Wal | 1 |
| 198 | Joshua Richardson | 1 |
| 198 | Michael Flynn | 1 |
| 205 | Peter Jacques | 0.75 |
| 205 | Wayne Jones | 0.75 |
| 205 | Eddie Lovely | 0.75 |
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026