PDC Order of Merit Update: Jonny Clayton back into top five after Basel success as sharp slide for Peter Wright even more evident
PDC
Jonny Clayton has reclaimed fifth place in the PDC Order of Merit after winning the Swiss Darts Trophy. The 52-year-old Welshman claimed his fourth European Tour title on Sunday, beating Luke Humphries 8-4 in the final.
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Clayton’s victory in Basel was his first ranking title since the Dutch Darts Championship in May 2025. ‘The Ferret’ earned £35,000 in prize money, which lifted him back to fifth in the world rankings.
Humphries gave Clayton a stern test in the final, but the Welshman eventually secured a convincing 8-4 win. The result also avenged his defeat to the world number two in the Belgian Darts Open final last March.
The victory also has important implications for the rest of Clayton’s season. He is now fourth in the European Tour Order of Merit, having earned more than £80,000 across nine tournaments this year. His title also secured him a place in the Grand Slam of Darts. That is a major boost for Clayton, who failed to qualify for the prestigious televised event two years ago.

Jonny Clayton claimed the Swiss Darts Trophy title last weekend
William O'Connor closes in on the top 32 as Mike De Decker slips
William O'Connor was another player to gain ground. The Irishman lost to Ross Smith in the second round of the Swiss Darts Trophy, but still climbed to 33rd in the world rankings.
The 40-year-old O'Connor is now just outside the top 32. His rise reflects a consistent run of results over the past 12 months. Earlier this year, he reached a Players Championship final and made the quarter-finals of the Czech Darts Open. O'Connor has climbed ten places in total this season.
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Mike De Decker’s situation is far less encouraging. The Belgian failed to qualify for the Swiss Darts Trophy and consequently dropped to 34th place. De Decker started the year 15 places higher, but has lost considerable ground in the world rankings since then.
Kevin Doets also benefited from the changes in the world rankings. Although the Dutchman went out in the second round in Basel, he climbed to 25th in the PDC Order of Merit.
Doets is continuing an excellent season. He began 2026 in 38th place, but has since risen 13 spots and further strengthened his position among the world’s top 32.
The Dutchman won his first PDC ranking title in May and is also third in the ProTour rankings. His performances in recent months have helped him establish an increasingly secure place among the world’s elite.

Mike De Decker has slipped several places in the world rankings in recent weeks
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Karel Sedlacek and Bradley Brooks make strong gains
Karel Sedlacek was one of the players to make significant progress in Basel. The Czech reached the quarter-finals and rose two places to 46th in the PDC Order of Merit.
His performance in Switzerland has also improved his chances of qualifying for the European Championship for the first time. Sedlacek is enjoying an excellent season overall. Last month, he won his first ProTour title at Players Championship 30, underlining the progress he has made over the past two years as a Tour Card holder.
Bradley Brooks also enjoyed a particularly successful weekend. The Englishman reached the quarter-finals of a European Tour event for the first time in his career and climbed to 61st in the world rankings. Brooks earned £8,000 in Basel, moving ahead of Rob Owen in the rankings. That is especially important in his bid to retain his PDC Tour Card.
The Englishman beat Niels Zonneveld, Chris Dobey and Jeffrey de Graaf in succession. He then had three match darts against Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals, but could not convert them. Even so, Brooks has now extended his lead over players outside the top 64 to more than £10,000.
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Peter Wright continues to slide in the world rankings
While several players improved their positions, Peter Wright continued to lose ground. The two-time world champion dropped to 38th in the PDC Order of Merit after the weekend.
‘Snakebite’ has qualified for just three European Tour events this season, and notable results have also eluded him on the Players Championship circuit.
Read also
Across thirty Players Championship events this year, Wright has reached the fourth round just once. Since the start of 2026, the Scot has dropped seven places.
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PDC Order of Merit
| Rank | +/- | Name | Prize money |
| 1 | Luke Littler | 3124 | |
| 2 | Luke Humphries | 1096 | |
| 3 | Gian van Veen | 1039.75 | |
| 4 | Gerwyn Price | 793 | |
| 5 | +1 | Jonny Clayton | 719 |
| 6 | -1 | James Wade | 686.25 |
| 7 | +1 | Josh Rock | 618 |
| 8 | -1 | Danny Noppert | 615 |
| 9 | Michael van Gerwen | 608.5 | |
| 10 | Gary Anderson | 591.75 | |
| 11 | Nathan Aspinall | 583 | |
| 12 | Wessel Nijman | 577 | |
| 13 | Stephen Bunting | 570.75 | |
| 14 | Ryan Searle | 569.75 | |
| 15 | Ross Smith | 567.25 | |
| 16 | Jermaine Wattimena | 547.75 | |
| 17 | Chris Dobey | 537.25 | |
| 18 | Luke Woodhouse | 511 | |
| 19 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 445 | |
| 20 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 435.5 | |
| 21 | Damon Heta | 418.25 | |
| 22 | Rob Cross | 402 | |
| 23 | Martin Schindler | 392.75 | |
| 24 | Ryan Joyce | 391 | |
| 25 | +1 | Kevin Doets | 376.5 |
| 26 | -1 | Cameron Menzies | 375 |
| 27 | Andrew Gilding | 358.75 | |
| 28 | Daryl Gurney | 305 | |
| 29 | Niels Zonneveld | 291.25 | |
| 30 | Dave Chisnall | 284.25 | |
| 31 | Joe Cullen | 280 | |
| 32 | Ritchie Edhouse | 278 | |
| 33 | +1 | William O'Connor | 277 |
| 34 | -1 | Mike De Decker | 274 |
| 35 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 245.5 | |
| 36 | +1 | Michael Smith | 241.25 |
| 37 | Niko Springer | 239.75 | |
| 38 | -2 | Peter Wright | 237 |
| 39 | Callan Rydz | 194 | |
| 40 | Justin Hood | 193.25 | |
| 41 | Martin Lukeman | 192.5 | |
| 42 | Mickey Mansell | 191.25 | |
| 43 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 189.25 | |
| 44 | Raymond van Barneveld | 182.25 | |
| 45 | Madars Razma | 177.75 | |
| 46 | +2 | Karel Sedlacek | 177.25 |
| 47 | -1 | James Hurrell | 175.25 |
| 48 | -1 | Gabriel Clemens | 171.5 |
| 49 | Scott Williams | 167.5 | |
| 50 | Connor Scutt | 166.75 | |
| 51 | Kim Huybrechts | 166.5 | |
| 52 | Ricky Evans | 165 | |
| 53 | Brendan Dolan | 163 | |
| 54 | Sebastian Bialecki | 162 | |
| 55 | +1 | Mensur Suljovic | 159.5 |
| 56 | -1 | Keane Barry | 152.25 |
| 57 | Ian White | 145 | |
| 58 | Richard Veenstra | 138.75 | |
| 59 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 135.5 | |
| 60 | Alan Soutar | 129 | |
| 61 | +1 | Bradley Brooks | 127.5 |
| 62 | -1 | Rob Owen | 125.25 |
| 63 | Ryan Meikle | 119.25 | |
| 64 | Lukas Wenig | 117.25 | |
| 65 | Nick Kenny | 115 | |
| 66 | +1 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 114 |
| 67 | -2 | Max Hopp | 113 |
| 68 | Cam Crabtree | 104.5 | |
| 69 | Thibault Tricole | 101.75 | |
| 70 | Wesley Plaisier | 98 | |
| 71 | Cristo Reyes | 95 | |
| 72 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 85.5 | |
| 73 | Adam Lipscombe | 80 | |
| 74 | +1 | Tom Bissell | 76.25 |
| 75 | -1 | Beau Greaves | 72 |
| 76 | Darryl Pilgrim | 69.5 | |
| 77 | Cor Dekker | 68.75 | |
| 78 | Dominik Gruellich | 62.25 | |
| 79 | Christian Kist | 60.5 | |
| 80 | Tom Sykes | 57.75 | |
| 81 | Andy Boulton | 56 | |
| 82 | Jim Long | 55.25 | |
| 83 | Oskar Lukasiak | 47.25 | |
| 83 | Charlie Manby | 47.25 | |
| 85 | Joe Hunt | 46 | |
| 86 | Thomas Lovely | 43 | |
| 87 | Jimmy van Schie | 41.5 | |
| 88 | Leon Weber | 41.25 | |
| 89 | Darius Labanauskas | 40.75 | |
| 90 | Marvin van Velzen | 37.75 | |
| 91 | Tavis Dudeney | 37.25 | |
| 92 | Viktor Tingstrom | 37 | |
| 93 | Shane McGuirk | 36.75 | |
| 94 | Alexander Merkx | 34.75 | |
| 95 | Henry Coates | 34 | |
| 96 | Adam Gawlas | 33.75 | |
| 97 | Kai Gotthardt | 33 | |
| 98 | Adam Paxton | 32.75 | |
| 99 | Greg Ritchie | 32.25 | |
| 100 | David Sharp | 31.25 | |
| 101 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 29.75 | |
| 101 | Owen Bates | 29.75 | |
| 103 | Mervyn King | 29 | |
| 104 | Adam Warner | 28.75 | |
| 105 | Jurjen van der Velde | 28.5 | |
| 106 | Martijn Dragt | 28.25 | |
| 107 | Dennie Olde Kalter | 27.5 | |
| 108 | Chris Landman | 26.75 | |
| 109 | Benjamin Pratnemer | 26.5 | |
| 110 | Tommy Morris | 26.25 | |
| 111 | Stephen Burton | 26 | |
| 112 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 25.75 | |
| 113 | Tyler Thorpe | 24 | |
| 114 | +5 | Sietse Lap | 23.25 |
| 115 | -1 | Tommy Lishman | 23 |
| 116 | -1 | Niall Culleton | 22.75 |
| 117 | -1 | Scott Waites | 22.5 |
| 118 | -1 | Jack Tweddell | 21.75 |
| 119 | -1 | Arno Merk | 21.5 |
| 120 | +7 | Stefan Bellmont | 20 |
| 120 | Maximilian Czerwinski | 20 | |
| 122 | -1 | Rhys Griffin | 19.25 |
| 122 | -1 | Adam Leek | 19.25 |
| 124 | -1 | Derek Coulson | 19 |
| 125 | -1 | Steve Lennon | 17.75 |
| 126 | -1 | Stephen Rosney | 17 |
| 127 | -1 | Stefaan Henderyck | 16.75 |
| 128 | Tytus Kanik | 15 | |
| 129 | Harry Ward | 14.25 | |
| 130 | Samuel Price | 14 | |
| 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 | Andy Baetens | 11.5 | |
| 137 | Daniel Klose | 10.75 | |
| 138 | Lewis Pride | 10.25 | |
| 139 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 10 | |
| 140 | Marvin Kraft | 9.5 | |
| 140 | Paul Krohne | 9.5 | |
| 142 | Boris Krcmar | 8.5 | |
| 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 | +13 | Gyorgy Jehirszki | 4 |
| 155 | +13 | Jani Haavisto | 4 |
| 155 | Finn Behrens | 4 | |
| 155 | Callum Goffin | 4 | |
| 155 | Anton Ostlund | 4 | |
| 160 | -2 | Ted Evetts | 3.75 |
| 160 | -2 | Aden Kirk | 3.75 |
| 160 | -2 | Filip Bereza | 3.75 |
| 160 | -2 | Scott Campbell | 3.75 |
| 164 | -2 | Laszlo Kadar | 3.5 |
| 164 | -2 | Valters Melderis | 3.5 |
| 166 | -2 | Archie Self | 3.25 |
| 167 | -2 | Patrik Williams | 3 |
| 168 | -2 | Gilbert van der Meijden | 2.5 |
| 168 | -2 | Graham Hall | 2.5 |
| 170 | New | Alex Fehlmann | 2 |
| 170 | New | Bruno Stoeckli | 2 |
| 170 | New | Roman Wellinger | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jaimy Jacobs | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jeroen Caron | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Kevin Lankhuizen | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Michael Hansen | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Petr Tous | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | David Rosi | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jiri Brejcha | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Martin Homola | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Andras Borbely | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | David Pisek | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Milan Biro | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jaimy Van de Weerd | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Michal Smejda | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Mio Varila | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Adrian Dudek | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Gabriel Varaljay | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jan Sliacky | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Juraj Holub | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Peter Kelemen | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Jason Riedtke | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Teemu Harju | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Aaron Hardy | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Nick Zwittnigg | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Zoran Lerchbacher | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Michael Hurtz | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Petr Krivka | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Robin Masino | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Kevin Troppmann | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Francois Schweyen | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Pascal Devroey | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Florian Hempel | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Florian Preis | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Wojciech Brulinski | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Sam Spivey | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Andreas Harrysson | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Dawid Robak | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Krzysztof Kciuk | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Miroslaw Grudziecki | 2 |
| 170 | -2 | Piotr Maciejczak | 2 |
| 213 | -3 | Danny Trueman | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Matthias Ehlers | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Jack Todd | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Jamai van den Herik | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Oliver King | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Ron Meulenkamp | 1.25 |
| 213 | -3 | Samuel Whittaker | 1.25 |
| 220 | -3 | Danny van Trijp | 0.75 |
| 220 | -3 | Jesus Salate | 0.75 |

Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- 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
- 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









