PDC Order of Merit update: James Wade overtakes Michael van Gerwen in the world rankings after Antwerp title

PDC
Tuesday, 15 September 2026 at 08:06
Michael van Gerwen & James Wade
James Wade has underlined his strong season with another big move on the PDC Order of Merit. After lifting the title at the Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp, “The Machine” climbs to sixth place. He overtakes Michael van Gerwen, who slips to seventh and looks set to lose more ground in the coming weeks.
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Wade ended a European Tour drought of more than ten years on Sunday at Antwerp Expo. The Englishman beat Ross Smith 8-4 in the final to claim the third European Tour title of his career. The £35,000 top prize also propelled Wade past Van Gerwen on the world ranking.
The rise of the now 43-year-old left-hander stands out. Wade began 2026 as world number eleven and has since gained five places. His results at the majors have driven that surge. The ten-time TV title winner reached the UK Open final earlier this year and made the World Matchplay quarter-finals.
Wade has delivered on the ProTour as well. He won the season’s first Players Championship and now sits among the five top earners in 2026. The gap to Jonny Clayton, the current world number five, is just over £10,000.
Wade last ranked as high as fifth in 2022. Thanks to his Antwerp title, he has also all but secured his spot at the European Championship in October.

Van Gerwen forced to give up more ground

While Wade keeps climbing, Michael van Gerwen is moving the other way. The three-time world champion drops to seventh after Wade’s win and is expected to slip another two places before the World Grand Prix later this month.
That is linked to prize money earned two years ago that will soon drop off his ranking. The Dutchman won Players Championship 21 in 2024 and also took the Hungarian Darts Trophy that year. The £40,000 banked from those two titles will vanish from his two-year tally before the World Grand Prix.
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Antwerp was disappointing on the board as well for Van Gerwen. He went out immediately to Damon Heta, who went on to reach the semi-finals.
Van Gerwen, the European Tour record-holder with 38 titles, did make the Prague semi-finals earlier this month. But a major ranking breakthrough in 2026 is still missing: he has yet to reach a quarter-final at a ranking major this year.
Michael van Gerwen and James Wade shake hands
James Wade moved past Michael van Gerwen on the PDC Order of Merit

Bunting and Noppert capitalise

Gary Anderson also lost ground on the Order of Merit. The Scot skipped Antwerp and drops from ninth to eleventh.
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Anderson was runner-up at the Hungarian Darts Trophy at the end of August but plays relatively few ranking events. Of all players currently in the top 64, only two have entered fewer tournaments over the past two years.
Stephen Bunting and Danny Noppert took advantage of Anderson’s slide. Bunting reached the last 16 in Antwerp and rises to ninth. Noppert made the quarter-finals and moves up to tenth. That gives the Netherlands two players in the world’s top ten, with Van Gerwen and Noppert.
Further down the list, Niels Zonneveld also made gains. The Dutchman rises one spot to 35th. William O'Connor likewise climbs one place to 33rd. Both players won a match at the Flanders Darts Trophy.
O'Connor has been notably consistent in recent months. Ireland’s number one has earned at least £2,000 at eight of his last eleven ProTour events. His past 12 months have also earned him a World Grand Prix return. He will be back on that stage for the first time since 2015. Zonneveld also heads to Leicester. It will be his World Grand Prix debut. The Dutchman has reached three quarter-finals and two semi-finals on the ProTour this year.

Greaves keeps climbing

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Beau Greaves continues her rapid ascent on the Order of Merit. The Women’s World Matchplay champion won her Tour Card in January and has already climbed to 74th in the world.
Greaves played a third straight European Tour event in Antwerp. She lost in round one to Damon Heta, but because she qualified via the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, she still banked £2,000 in ranking money.
That was enough to move past Tom Bissell and Darryl Pilgrim on the Order of Merit. Of all players who claimed a new Tour Card in January, only Spain’s number one Cristo Reyes has outperformed Greaves so far.

PDC Order of Merit as of 15-9-2026

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Rank +/- Name Prize money (in units of £1,000)
1   Luke Littler 3156.5
2   Luke Humphries 1022
3   Gian van Veen 1016.25
4   Gerwyn Price 737.5
5   Jonny Clayton 690.5
6 +1 James Wade 679.75
7 -1 Michael van Gerwen 651
8   Josh Rock 627
9 +1 Stephen Bunting 615.25
10 +1 Danny Noppert 613.75
11 -2 Gary Anderson 611.75
12   Wessel Nijman 585.25
13   Ryan Searle 584.75
14   Ross Smith 574.75
15   Chris Dobey 558.75
16   Nathan Aspinall 553
17   Jermaine Wattimena 529.75
18   Luke Woodhouse 501.5
19   Martin Schindler 445.25
20   Krzysztof Ratajski 438
21   Rob Cross 435
22 +1 Damon Heta 428.25
23 -1 Dirk van Duijvenbode 424.75
24   Mike De Decker 411
25   Ryan Joyce 404.5
26   Cameron Menzies 371
27   Andrew Gilding 364.75
28   Kevin Doets 362.5
29   Daryl Gurney 340.5
30   Dave Chisnall 325
31   Joe Cullen 302.5
32   Ritchie Edhouse 296
33 +1 William O'Connor 266.5
34 -1 Ricardo Pietreczko 266
35 +1 Niels Zonneveld 255
36 -1 Michael Smith 254
37   Peter Wright 246
38   Niko Springer 228.75
39   Martin Lukeman 206
40   Callan Rydz 203.25
41   Raymond van Barneveld 201.5
42 +1 Mickey Mansell 193.75
43 -1 Justin Hood 193.25
44   Madars Razma 191.25
45   Connor Scutt 183.5
46   Jeffrey de Graaf 182.75
47 +1 Gabriel Clemens 181
48 -1 Dimitri Van den Bergh 179
49   James Hurrell 176.75
50   Kim Huybrechts 171.5
51   Brendan Dolan 170.25
52   Ricky Evans 166
52   Scott Williams 166
54   Keane Barry 154.75
55   Mensur Suljovic 154.25
56   Ian White 154
57   Karel Sedlacek 153
58   Sebastian Bialecki 150.5
59   Richard Veenstra 144.5
60   Alan Soutar 132
61   Rob Owen 126
62   Ryan Meikle 123.25
63   Lukas Wenig 121
64 +1 Bradley Brooks 118.25
65 -1 Nick Kenny 117
66   Mario Vandenbogaerde 113
67   Thibault Tricole 111.75
68   Max Hopp 111
69   Cam Crabtree 102.5
70   Wesley Plaisier 96.75
71   Cristo Reyes 84
72   Maik Kuivenhoven 80
72   Adam Lipscombe 80
74 +2 Beau Greaves 70
75 -1 Tom Bissell 68.75
76 -1 Darryl Pilgrim 68.25
77   Cor Dekker 65.75
78   Dominik Gruellich 62.25
79   Christian Kist 60.5
80   Andy Boulton 56
81   Tom Sykes 55.75
82   Jim Long 54
83   Charlie Manby 45.25
84   Joe Hunt 42.75
85   Oskar Lukasiak 42
86   Thomas Lovely 40.5
87   Leon Weber 40
88   Jimmy van Schie 39.5
89   Darius Labanauskas 37.5
90   Tavis Dudeney 37.25
91   Marvin van Velzen 36.5
92   Viktor Tingstrom 35.75
93   Shane McGuirk 35.5
94   Alexander Merkx 33.5
95   Henry Coates 32
96   David Sharp 31.25
97   Greg Ritchie 31
98   Adam Paxton 30.75
99   Adam Gawlas 29.75
99   Kai Gotthardt 29.75
101   Mervyn King 29
102   Adam Warner 28.75
103   Owen Bates 28.5
104   Dennie Olde Kalter 27.5
105   Jurjen van der Velde 27.25
106   Martijn Dragt 26.25
107 +4 Stephen Burton 26
108 -1 Jeffrey Sparidaans 25.75
109 +6 Chris Landman 25.5
109 -1 Jeffrey De Zwaan 25.5
111 -2 Benjamin Pratnemer 24.5
112 -2 Tommy Morris 24.25
113 -1 Tyler Thorpe 22.75
113 -1 Niall Culleton 22.75
115 -1 Scott Waites 22.5
116   Jack Tweddell 21.75
117   Sietse Lap 21.25
118   Arno Merk 20.25
119   Tommy Lishman 20
120   Adam Leek 19.25
121   Derek Coulson 19
122   Maximilian Czerwinski 18.75
123   Rhys Griffin 18
124   Stephen Rosney 15.75
125   Stefaan Henderyck 15.5
126   Tytus Kanik 15
127   Harry Ward 14.25
128   Samuel Price 14
128   Stefan Bellmont 14
130   Steve Lennon 13.75
131   Carl Sneyd 13.5
132   Nathan Potter 13
133   Daniel Ayres 12.75
134   Yorick Hofkens 12.5
135   Pascal Rupprecht 12.25
136 +5 Andy Baetens 11.5
137 -1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 10
138 -1 Marvin Kraft 9.5
138 -1 Paul Krohne 9.5
140 -1 Boris Krcmar 8.5
141 -1 Daniel Klose 8.25
142   Lewis Pride 7.75
143   Michael Unterbuchner 7.5
144   Jan Schmidt 7
144   Patrik Kovacs 7
146   Pero Ljubic 6.5
147   Christopher Wickenden 6.25
148   Johan Engstrom 6
149   Nandor Major 5.5
149   Jonas Masalin 5.5
149   Dragutin Horvat 5.5
149   Marcel Hausotter 5.5
153   Jack Aldridge 5.25
154   Oliver Mitchell 4.25
155   Finn Behrens 4
155   Callum Goffin 4
155   Anton Ostlund 4
158   Aden Kirk 3.75
158   Filip Bereza 3.75
158   Scott Campbell 3.75
161   Laszlo Kadar 3.5
161   Valters Melderis 3.5
163   Patrik Williams 3
164   Ted Evetts 2.5
164   Graham Hall 2.5
166 New Jaimy Jacobs 2
166 New Jeroen Caron 2
166 New Kevin Lankhuizen 2
166 New Michael Hansen 2
166 New Petr Tous 2
166   David Rosi 2
166   Jiri Brejcha 2
166   Martin Homola 2
166   Andras Borbely 2
166   David Pisek 2
166   Milan Biro 2
166   Jaimy Van de Weerd 2
166   Michal Smejda 2
166   Mio Varila 2
166   Adrian Dudek 2
166   Gabriel Varaljay 2
166   Jan Sliacky 2
166   Juraj Holub 2
166   Peter Kelemen 2
166   Jason Riedtke 2
166   Teemu Harju 2
166   Gyorgy Jehirszki 2
166   Liam Maendl-Lawrance 2
166   Aaron Hardy 2
166   Nick Zwittnigg 2
166   Zoran Lerchbacher 2
166   Michael Hurtz 2
166   Petr Krivka 2
166   Robin Masino 2
166   Kevin Troppmann 2
166   Francois Schweyen 2
166   Jani Haavisto 2
166   Pascal Devroey 2
166   Florian Hempel 2
166   Florian Preis 2
166   Wojciech Brulinski 2
166   Sam Spivey 2
166   Andreas Harrysson 2
166   Dawid Robak 2
166   Krzysztof Kciuk 2
166   Miroslaw Grudziecki 2
166   Piotr Maciejczak 2
208 -5 Gilbert van der Meijden 1.25
208 -5 Danny Trueman 1.25
208 -5 Matthias Ehlers 1.25
208 -5 Jack Todd 1.25
208 -5 Jamai van den Herik 1.25
208 -5 Oliver King 1.25
208 -5 Ron Meulenkamp 1.25
208 -5 Samuel Whittaker 1.25
216 -5 Danny van Trijp 0.75
216 -5 Jesus Salate 0.75
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