Players Championship Order of Merit update: Chris Dobey moves into second after latest title as last chance saloon for Littler, Aspinall, Rock approaches
PDC
The Players Championship series comprises a total of 34 tournaments, which take place over Hildesheim, Wigan, Leicester, Milton Keynes, and, for 2026, a trip to Den Bosch.
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It sees the top names, including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, and Gian van Veen, in action over the course of the year, with the PDC ProTour being seen as the so-called Bread and Butter tournaments that help towards qualifying for most majors, including the PDC World Darts Championship.
But the Players Championship Order of Merit is the one to watch for this series, as it sees the top 64 players over the course of the season qualify for the Players Championship Finals, which take place in Minehead at the end of November.
It is determined based on total prize money won by each player in the Players Championship events throughout the year. The top 64 qualify, and it also spells some issues, as it did in 2025 for the likes of Luke Littler, Nathan Aspinall, and Luke Humphries, who had to qualify late. Michael van Gerwen, for instance, did not qualify at all.
Dobey returns to top two, Morris standout riser as Minehead race set to reach enthralling climax
While Wessel Nijman has an insurmountable lead, Chris Dobey did manage to slightly close the gap following him defeating Tommy Morris 7-4 in the final of Players Championship 32. He rose above Kevin Doets into second. Andrew Gilding and Luke Woodhouse complete the top five with Beau Greaves in seventh.
The big riser was Morris. He came from the Challenge Tour but made a point with that brilliant final run. He climbed to 45th with his spot in Minehead all-but confirmed in a hugely profitable day.
There are just two more Players Championship events remaining for the rest of 2026, both occurring in Leicester on November 4 and 5. Luke Littler will need to make up over £20,000 to qualify for the major event. Nathan Aspinall, Josh Rock, Peter Wright, Ryan Joyce and Raymond van Barneveld are all outside a provisional qualifying spot, with Gary Anderson moving down from 64th to 68th.
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Gerwyn Price is also not completely out of the woods yet, with deep runs for Scott Williams and Michael Smith in Den Bosch boosting their chances of appearing in the Players Championship Finals.
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Players Championship Order of Merit after Event 32
(as of dartsrankings.com) Prize money in the tables is in units of £1,000.
| Rk | Name | Prize Money |
| 1 | Wessel Nijman | 154.5 |
| 2 | Chris Dobey | 118.75 |
| 3 | Kevin Doets | 113.25 |
| 4 | Luke Woodhouse | 88 |
| 5 | Andrew Gilding | 80.75 |
| 6 | Jermaine Wattimena | 80.5 |
| 7 | Beau Greaves | 70 |
| 8 | Ross Smith | 65.5 |
| 9 | Karel Sedlacek | 65.25 |
| 10 | William O'Connor | 62.5 |
| 11 | Sebastian Bialecki | 62 |
| 12 | Danny Noppert | 58.5 |
| 13 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 58.25 |
| 14 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 57.25 |
| 15 | Cameron Menzies | 57.25 |
| 16 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 56.75 |
| 17 | Cristo Reyes | 56.25 |
| 18 | Charlie Manby | 56 |
| 19 | Rob Cross | 55.5 |
| 20 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 54.75 |
| 21 | Jonny Clayton | 54.5 |
| 22 | Ryan Searle | 53.25 |
| 23 | Luke Humphries | 52 |
| 24 | Dave Chisnall | 51.75 |
| 25 | Tom Bissell | 51 |
| 26 | Richard Veenstra | 50.5 |
| 27 | Gabriel Clemens | 50.5 |
| 28 | James Wade | 50 |
| 29 | Stephen Bunting | 50 |
| 30 | Kim Huybrechts | 49.25 |
| 31 | Michael van Gerwen | 48.75 |
| 32 | Joe Cullen | 48.25 |
| 33 | Max Hopp | 47.25 |
| 34 | Joe Hunt | 46 |
| 35 | Damon Heta | 45.5 |
| 36 | Niels Zonneveld | 45.25 |
| 37 | Justin Hood | 44.75 |
| 38 | Niko Springer | 44 |
| 39 | Brendan Dolan | 44 |
| 40 | Tom Sykes | 43.75 |
| 41 | Mickey Mansell | 43 |
| 42 | Rob Owen | 43 |
| 43 | Gian van Veen | 42.25 |
| 44 | Callan Rydz | 40.5 |
| 45 | Tommy Morris | 39.25 |
| 46 | Martin Schindler | 37.5 |
| 47 | Darius Labanauskas | 37.5 |
| 48 | Connor Scutt | 37.5 |
| 49 | Christian Kist | 37 |
| 50 | Daryl Gurney | 37 |
| 51 | Alan Soutar | 36.75 |
| 52 | Darryl Pilgrim | 36.75 |
| 53 | Mensur Suljovic | 36.75 |
| 54 | James Hurrell | 36.5 |
| 55 | Scott Williams | 35.75 |
| 56 | Michael Smith | 35.75 |
| 57 | Keane Barry | 35.75 |
| 58 | Gerwyn Price | 34 |
| 59 | Alexander Merkx | 33.75 |
| 60 | Ritchie Edhouse | 33.5 |
| 61 | Mike De Decker | 33.25 |
| 62 | Bradley Brooks | 32.5 |
| 63 | David Sharp | 32.5 |
| 64 | Wesley Plaisier | 31.75 |
| 65 | Henry Coates | 31.25 |
| 66 | Madars Razma | 30.25 |
| 67 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 30 |
| 68 | Gary Anderson | 29.75 |
| 69 | Martijn Dragt | 29.5 |
| 70 | Jim Long | 29.25 |
| 71 | Cam Crabtree | 28.5 |
| 72 | Shane McGuirk | 28.5 |
| 73 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 28.25 |
| 74 | Andy Boulton | 28.25 |
| 75 | Owen Bates | 28 |
| 76 | Jurjen van der Velde | 27.75 |
| 77 | Jimmy van Schie | 27.25 |
| 78 | Nathan Aspinall | 26.5 |
| 79 | Lukas Wenig | 26.25 |
| 80 | Josh Rock | 26 |
| 81 | Raymond van Barneveld | 25.75 |
| 82 | Ian White | 25.75 |
| 83 | Mervyn King | 25.75 |
| 84 | Adam Gawlas | 25.5 |
| 85 | Tommy Lishman | 25 |
| 86 | Peter Wright | 23.75 |
| 87 | Nick Kenny | 23.75 |
| 88 | Cor Dekker | 23.5 |
| 89 | Viktor Tingstrom | 23 |
| 90 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 23 |
| 91 | Ryan Joyce | 22.5 |
| 92 | Thibault Tricole | 21.75 |
| 93 | Benjamin Pratnemer | 21.25 |
| 94 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 21.25 |
| 95 | Thomas Lovely | 21 |
| 96 | Niall Culleton | 21 |
| 97 | Stephen Burton | 20.75 |
| 98 | Marvin van Velzen | 20.5 |
| 99 | Arno Merk | 20.25 |
| 100 | Chris Landman | 20 |
| 101 | Scott Waites | 20 |
| 102 | Adam Paxton | 19.75 |
| 103 | Jack Tweddell | 19.25 |
| 104 | Steve Lennon | 19 |
| 105 | Derek Coulson | 19 |
| 106 | Tyler Thorpe | 18.5 |
| 107 | Leon Weber | 18.5 |
| 108 | Adam Lipscombe | 18.25 |
| 109 | Adam Leek | 18 |
| 110 | Ryan Meikle | 18 |
| 111 | Sietse Lap | 18 |
| 112 | Kai Gotthardt | 17.75 |
| 113 | Nathan Potter | 17 |
| 114 | Stefan Bellmont | 17 |
| 115 | Greg Ritchie | 17 |
| 116 | Stephen Rosney | 16.25 |
| 117 | Rhys Griffin | 15 |
| 118 | Harry Ward | 14.25 |
| 119 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 13.25 |
| 120 | Oskar Lukasiak | 13 |
| 121 | Carl Sneyd | 12.75 |
| 122 | Daniel Ayres | 12.75 |
| 123 | Yorick Hofkens | 12.5 |
| 124 | Lewis Pride | 12.25 |
| 125 | Tavis Dudeney | 11.5 |
| 126 | Adam Warner | 11.25 |
| 127 | Dominik Gruellich | 10.75 |
| 128 | Luke Littler | 10.5 |
| 129 | Ricky Evans | 10.5 |
| 130 | Samuel Price | 10 |
| 131 | Pascal Rupprecht | 9.5 |
| 132 | Daniel Klose | 9.25 |
| 133 | Dennie Olde Kalter | 9 |
| 134 | Maximilian Czerwinski | 7.5 |
| 135 | Stefaan Henderyck | 7 |
| 136 | Martin Lukeman | 7 |
| 137 | Christopher Wickenden | 6.25 |
| 138 | Marvin Kraft | 6.25 |
| 139 | Jack Aldridge | 5.25 |
| 140 | Tytus Kanik | 4.5 |
| 141 | Oliver Mitchell | 4.25 |
| 142 | Callum Goffin | 4 |
| 143 | Ted Evetts | 3.75 |
| 144 | Aden Kirk | 3.75 |
| 145 | Filip Bereza | 3.75 |
| 146 | Archie Self | 3.25 |
| 147 | Gilbert van der Meijden | 2.5 |
| 148 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 2.5 |
| 149 | Levy Frauenfelder | 1.25 |
| 149 | Patrik Williams | 1.25 |
| 151 | Kevin Burness | 1.25 |
| 152 | Pero Ljubic | 1.25 |
| 153 | Danny Trueman | 1.25 |
| 154 | Matthias Ehlers | 1.25 |
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- 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
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026