European Tour Order of Merit Update: Ross Smith still leads, Woodhouse breaks into top 10 as Littler stays in position despite barely playing

The Baltic Sea Darts Open took place in Kiel last weekend. The title went to Englishman Luke Woodhouse, who defeated fellow Englishman Ryan Joyce 8–4 in the final. Woodhouse also made a big jump in the European Tour Order of Merit and now sits in an impressive fourth place.

After the Baltic Sea Darts Open, the eighth of fifteen European Tour events in 2026, the European Tour Order of Merit is still led by Ross Smith. "Smudger", who recently won the International Darts Open, was knocked out in his opening match in Kiel, but still holds a £9,000 advantage over second-placed Wessel Nijman, having earned £75,000 in prize money so far.

Nijman closed the gap slightly thanks to his quarter-final run at the Baltic Sea Darts Open. Third-placed Josh Rock trails Smith by £14,000. Rock did not compete in the Baltic Sea Darts Open last weekend.

A new name in the top 10 is Woodhouse. The 37-year-old Englishman moves up to fourth place following his victory in Kiel and is now £20,000 behind Smith. The top five is completed by Gerwyn Price, who was absent last weekend and sits £25,000 behind the leader.

Perhaps the most surprising position is the "only" 11th place of Luke Littler. The newly crowned Premier League Darts champion has played very few European Tour events this year, although he did win the opening tournament in Poland. Just behind Littler is Joyce in 12th place following his run to the final in Kiel.

Gian van Veen reached the third round of the Baltic Sea Darts Open and now sits 14th in the European Tour Order of Merit. That is two places higher than Michael van Gerwen, who did not play in Kiel.

Other rises include Damon Heta who went from 30th up to 19th after his successful run, he goes up 11 spots while Ryan Joyce of course after he managed to reach the final losing to Woodhouse is up seven spots to 12th from 19th. A player who has often stated that he doesn't like flying, Joyce now could be free to miss events with his spot in Dortmund almost secure.

While after a superb weekend, Dave Chisnall and Ricky Evans also help their cause going up to 30th and 36th respectively. They're up five spots and eight spots. The biggest leaper though unsurprisingly is Jimmy van Schie who had never even played on the European Tour and is up to 49th after his heroics. The Dutchman finally having a big confidence boost after not having a great opening season on the tour after such fanfare.

(as per dartsrankings.com)