Order of Merit Players Championship after PC 18 | Luke Woodhouse climbs into top five after title, Luke Humphries drops out of top 10

The Players Championship series comprises a total of 34 tournaments which take place over Hildesheim, Wigan, Leicester, Milton Keynes and new for 2026, a trip to Den Bosch.

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.

It is an unchanged top three. Early exits for Wessel Nijman and Kevin Doets severely halted their progress, but the gap was so big that even a quarter-final run by Kevin Doets does not really make the biggest impact.

The big story is occurs just below. Luke Woodhouse's first PDC ranking title leaves him fifth in the Order of Merit. A second final appearance leaves him in good stead heading to Minehead in October. So does the losing finalist Andrew Gilding. Two finals in three events, winning one of them, leaves him in fourth.

Beau Greaves could only manage a run to round two, losing out to Danny Noopert. She slots in sixth as James Wade also falls down a spot despite making the semi-final stage. That missed match dart on tops will hurt ‘The Machine.’

PC17 runner-up Jermaine Wattimena sits in eighth as Ross Smith and Noppert cap off the top 10.

Luke Humphries no-show saw him drop down to 13th. He opted not to compete after winning the tournament the day before in Leicester. Right behind him comes Jonny Clayton who made it to the quarter-finals. Michael van Gerwen is out of the top 10 after not competing, sitting in 16th.

Further down the order, Luke Littler is still yet to get on the board having not competed in an event yet in 2026. Josh Rock and Gian van Veen's early exits prevent them from breaking into the top 64.

(as of dartsrankings.com)