Luke Littler has not only further strengthened his lead on the
PDC Order of Merit after his impressive title win at the World Matchplay. The 19-year-old Englishman also reached a new historic milestone in Blackpool. Littler is the first darts player ever to have more than three million pounds in prize money to his name on the PDC Order of Merit.
The PDC Order of Merit is compiled based on prize money earned by players over a two-year period at ranking tournaments. After his latest triumph, Littler stands at a total of £3,143,500, making him the first player to break the £3 million barrier.
That milestone was achieved after a dominant week in Blackpool. Littler began his
World Matchplay with a 10-6 victory over Niko Springer and then saw off Nathan Aspinall 11-8.
From the quarterfinals onward, the margins only grew. Josh Rock was beaten 16-7, after which
Dirk van Duijvenbode was left without a chance in the semifinal at 17-5. In the final,
Gerwyn Price also had to give way: 18-9.
Littler shatters Taylor’s record
It wasn’t just the scorelines that impressed. During the tournament, Littler posted three averages over 110 and finished his five matches with a
tournament average of 111.04.
That erased a sixteen-year-old record by Phil Taylor from the books. The darts legend achieved a 106.31 average across the entire 2010 World Matchplay. Littler comfortably surpassed that mark in Blackpool.
In fact, he came close to another record by Taylor long deemed virtually untouchable. During his title win at the 2008 European Championship, Taylor recorded a tournament average of 111.54. With his 111.04, Littler fell just half a point short.
His World Matchplay title also earned Littler £225,000 for the world rankings. That amount could be added in full to his total. Two years ago he lost in the first round in Blackpool and therefore had no prize money to defend this time.
The next threshold is already coming into view. In theory, Littler could break through the £4 million mark this year. To do so, he would have to win the World Grand Prix, the European Championship, the Grand Slam of Darts, the Players Championship Finals, and the World Darts Championship.
Luke Littler once again received the Phil Taylor Trophy
Price rises, Van Gerwen drops to lowest position since 2012
Elsewhere in the top ten, movement was limited.
Gerwyn Price and
Michael van Gerwen were the only two players to change places.
The World Matchplay had
major consequences for Van Gerwen. The Dutchman lost 14-12 in the second round to Dirk van Duijvenbode and therefore could not defend his prize money from two years ago. Back then, Van Gerwen reached the final in Blackpool.
The three-time world champion drops three places, from fourth to seventh. It is his lowest ranking on the PDC Order of Merit since 2012.
Price made precisely the opposite move. “The Iceman” reached the final and climbed from seventh to fourth. The Welshman overtook not only Van Gerwen, but also James Wade and Jonny Clayton. That makes Price once again the highest-ranked darts player from Wales.
Van Veen closes in on Humphries
Meanwhile, Gian van Veen consolidated his third place in the world rankings. The Dutchman reached the semifinals in Blackpool and has closed to within £9,500 of number two Luke Humphries.
Humphries endured a disappointing World Matchplay. The former world champion was surprisingly knocked out in the first round by Cameron Menzies. As a result, the battle for second place behind Littler is wide open.
Just outside the top ten, Gary Anderson took 11th place from Ryan Searle. Wessel Nijman also made gains. Thanks to his spot in the second round, the Dutchman climbed to 13th, at the expense of Chris Dobey.
Van Duijvenbode the biggest climber
The biggest winner in terms of places gained is Dirk van Duijvenbode. The Dutchman had an excellent tournament and reached the semifinals. His performances earned him £65,000 in prize money.
As a result, Van Duijvenbode jumps five places. He was 28th before the tournament, but after the World Matchplay he can be found in 23rd.
Several other participants also gained ground. Damon Heta rose two places, Cameron Menzies and Dave Chisnall both moved up one spot, and Niko Springer jumped three places.
On the other hand, several players lost ground. Rob Cross dropped three places, while Ryan Joyce slipped one. Andrew Gilding fell two spots and Daryl Gurney had to give up three places.
Van den Bergh drops seven places
The biggest drop is for Dimitri Van den Bergh. The Belgian failed to qualify for the World Matchplay this year, having reached the quarterfinals two years ago. As a result, the prize money from that run has fallen off his ranking.
Van den Bergh tumbles seven places and sits 46th on the world rankings after the World Matchplay. That makes the situation worrying for ‘The Dreammaker’. In the coming months he risks slipping further, and the former World Matchplay champion may even have to fear for the retention of his Tour Card.
PDC Order of Merit
| Rank | +/- | Name | Prize money (in units of £1,000) |
| 1 | | Luke Littler | 3143.5 |
| 2 | | Luke Humphries | 1008 |
| 3 | | Gian van Veen | 998.5 |
| 4 | +3 | Gerwyn Price | 725 |
| 5 | | Jonny Clayton | 684.5 |
| 6 | | James Wade | 657.25 |
| 7 | -3 | Michael van Gerwen | 643 |
| 8 | | Josh Rock | 639.5 |
| 9 | | Stephen Bunting | 618.25 |
| 10 | | Danny Noppert | 604.25 |
| 11 | +1 | Gary Anderson | 601.75 |
| 12 | -1 | Ryan Searle | 597.25 |
| 13 | +1 | Wessel Nijman | 577.25 |
| 14 | -1 | Chris Dobey | 570.5 |
| 15 | | Ross Smith | 535.25 |
| 16 | | Nathan Aspinall | 531.75 |
| 17 | | Jermaine Wattimena | 510.25 |
| 18 | | Luke Woodhouse | 492 |
| 19 | | Martin Schindler | 447.75 |
| 20 | | Krzysztof Ratajski | 430.5 |
| 21 | +2 | Damon Heta | 430.25 |
| 22 | | Mike De Decker | 428 |
| 23 | +5 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 425.75 |
| 24 | -3 | Rob Cross | 424 |
| 25 | -1 | Ryan Joyce | 396.25 |
| 26 | +1 | Cameron Menzies | 385.75 |
| 27 | -2 | Andrew Gilding | 364.25 |
| 28 | +1 | Dave Chisnall | 361.75 |
| 29 | -3 | Daryl Gurney | 353.5 |
| 30 | | Kevin Doets | 343.5 |
| 31 | | Joe Cullen | 316 |
| 32 | | Ritchie Edhouse | 298.75 |
| 33 | +1 | Peter Wright | 280.75 |
| 34 | +1 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 277.25 |
| 35 | -2 | Michael Smith | 251.5 |
| 36 | | Niels Zonneveld | 249 |
| 37 | | William O'Connor | 246.75 |
| 38 | | Martin Lukeman | 214.25 |
| 39 | +3 | Niko Springer | 209.25 |
| 40 | +1 | Callan Rydz | 200.5 |
| 41 | -1 | Raymond van Barneveld | 198.75 |
| 42 | +1 | Madars Razma | 193.25 |
| 43 | +1 | Mickey Mansell | 188.75 |
| 44 | +1 | Gabriel Clemens | 187.5 |
| 45 | +1 | Connor Scutt | 184 |
| 46 | -7 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 183.5 |
| 47 | | Justin Hood | 180.5 |
| 48 | | Scott Williams | 171.5 |
| 49 | | Ricky Evans | 171 |
| 50 | | James Hurrell | 168 |
| 51 | | Jeffrey de Graaf | 167.25 |
| 52 | +1 | Kim Huybrechts | 162.75 |
| 53 | +1 | Mensur Suljovic | 158.25 |
| 54 | -2 | Brendan Dolan | 155.25 |
| 55 | | Ian White | 154.75 |
| 56 | | Keane Barry | 146 |
| 57 | | Alan Soutar | 139.75 |
| 58 | | Richard Veenstra | 139.5 |
| 59 | | Karel Sedlacek | 139.25 |
| 60 | | Sebastian Bialecki | 130 |
| 61 | | Rob Owen | 128.25 |
| 62 | | Ryan Meikle | 124.5 |
| 63 | | Lukas Wenig | 123.5 |
| 64 | | Nick Kenny | 121.25 |
| 65 | | Thibault Tricole | 118.25 |
| 66 | | Max Hopp | 105 |
| 67 | | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 104 |
| 68 | | Bradley Brooks | 103.75 |
| 69 | | Cam Crabtree | 98.75 |
| 70 | | Wesley Plaisier | 90.25 |
| 71 | | Adam Lipscombe | 78.75 |
| 72 | | Maik Kuivenhoven | 74.75 |
| 73 | | Cristo Reyes | 71 |
| 74 | | Tom Bissell | 66.25 |
| 75 | | Cor Dekker | 64.5 |
| 76 | | Dominik Gruellich | 62.25 |
| 77 | | Darryl Pilgrim | 62 |
| 78 | | Beau Greaves | 57.5 |
| 79 | | Christian Kist | 55.25 |
| 80 | | Andy Boulton | 51.75 |
| 81 | | Jim Long | 47.5 |
| 82 | | Tom Sykes | 47 |
| 83 | | Charlie Manby | 40 |
| 83 | | Leon Weber | 40 |
| 85 | | Thomas Lovely | 38.5 |
| 86 | | Oskar Lukasiak | 37.5 |
| 87 | | Tavis Dudeney | 36 |
| 88 | | Jimmy van Schie | 35.75 |
| 89 | | Joe Hunt | 34.75 |
| 90 | | Marvin van Velzen | 34 |
| 91 | | Darius Labanauskas | 33.75 |
| 92 | | Viktor Tingstrom | 32.5 |
| 93 | | Shane McGuirk | 31 |
| 94 | | Alexander Merkx | 29 |
| 95 | | Kai Gotthardt | 28.5 |
| 96 | | Adam Warner | 27.5 |
| 96 | | Dennie Olde Kalter | 27.5 |
| 98 | | Mervyn King | 27 |
| 98 | | Adam Paxton | 27 |
| 100 | | Greg Ritchie | 26.75 |
| 101 | | Adam Gawlas | 25.75 |
| 102 | | David Sharp | 25.5 |
| 103 | | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 23.75 |
| 104 | | Owen Bates | 23.25 |
| 105 | | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 23 |
| 105 | | Tommy Morris | 23 |
| 107 | | Scott Waites | 22.5 |
| 108 | | Jurjen van der Velde | 22.25 |
| 109 | | Niall Culleton | 21.5 |
| 110 | | Benjamin Pratnemer | 21.25 |
| 111 | | Chris Landman | 20.75 |
| 112 | | Stephen Burton | 20.5 |
| 113 | | Martijn Dragt | 20.25 |
| 114 | | Tyler Thorpe | 19.5 |
| 115 | | Jack Tweddell | 19.25 |
| 116 | | Arno Merk | 17.75 |
| 116 | | Derek Coulson | 17.75 |
| 118 | | Tommy Lishman | 17.5 |
| 118 | | Maximilian Czerwinski | 17.5 |
| 120 | | Adam Leek | 17.25 |
| 121 | | Rhys Griffin | 16.75 |
| 122 | | Sietse Lap | 16.25 |
| 123 | | Tytus Kanik | 15 |
| 124 | | Stephen Rosney | 14.5 |
| 125 | | Henry Coates | 13.75 |
| 126 | | Nathan Potter | 13 |
| 126 | | Harry Ward | 13 |
| 128 | | Stefan Bellmont | 12.75 |
| 129 | | Stefaan Henderyck | 11.75 |
| 130 | | Yorick Hofkens | 11.25 |
| 130 | | Steve Lennon | 11.25 |
| 132 | | Pascal Rupprecht | 11 |
| 133 | | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 10 |
| 134 | | Samuel Price | 9.5 |
| 134 | | Paul Krohne | 9.5 |
| 136 | | Carl Sneyd | 8.5 |
| 136 | | Boris Krcmar | 8.5 |
| 138 | | Daniel Klose | 8.25 |
| 138 | | Marvin Kraft | 8.25 |
| 140 | | Andy Baetens | 8 |
| 141 | | Daniel Ayres | 7.75 |
| 142 | | Michael Unterbuchner | 7.5 |
| 143 | | Jan Schmidt | 7 |
| 143 | | Patrik Kovacs | 7 |
| 145 | | Pero Ljubic | 6.5 |
| 146 | | Dragutin Horvat | 5.5 |
| 146 | | Marcel Hausotter | 5.5 |
| 148 | | Lewis Pride | 4.5 |
| 149 | | Johan Engstrom | 4 |
| 149 | | Finn Behrens | 4 |
| 149 | | Callum Goffin | 4 |
| 149 | | Anton Ostlund | 4 |
| 153 | | Aden Kirk | 3.75 |
| 153 | | Christopher Wickenden | 3.75 |
| 153 | | Filip Bereza | 3.75 |
| 153 | | Scott Campbell | 3.75 |
| 157 | | Valters Melderis | 3.5 |
| 158 | | Jack Aldridge | 3.25 |
| 159 | | Oliver Mitchell | 3 |
| 159 | | Patrik Williams | 3 |
| 161 | | Graham Hall | 2.5 |
| 162 | | Jaimy Van de Weerd | 2 |
| 162 | | Michal Smejda | 2 |
| 162 | | Mio Varila | 2 |
| 162 | | Adrian Dudek | 2 |
| 162 | | Gabriel Varaljay | 2 |
| 162 | | Jan Sliacky | 2 |
| 162 | | Juraj Holub | 2 |
| 162 | | Peter Kelemen | 2 |
| 162 | | Jason Riedtke | 2 |
| 162 | | Nandor Major | 2 |
| 162 | | Teemu Harju | 2 |
| 162 | | Gyorgy Jehirszki | 2 |
| 162 | | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 2 |
| 162 | | Aaron Hardy | 2 |
| 162 | | Nick Zwittnigg | 2 |
| 162 | | Zoran Lerchbacher | 2 |
| 162 | | Michael Hurtz | 2 |
| 162 | | Petr Krivka | 2 |
| 162 | | Robin Masino | 2 |
| 162 | | Kevin Troppmann | 2 |
| 162 | | Francois Schweyen | 2 |
| 162 | | Jani Haavisto | 2 |
| 162 | | Pascal Devroey | 2 |
| 162 | | Florian Hempel | 2 |
| 162 | | Florian Preis | 2 |
| 162 | | Jonas Masalin | 2 |
| 162 | | Wojciech Brulinski | 2 |
| 162 | | Sam Spivey | 2 |
| 162 | | Andreas Harrysson | 2 |
| 162 | | Dawid Robak | 2 |
| 162 | | Krzysztof Kciuk | 2 |
| 162 | | Miroslaw Grudziecki | 2 |
| 162 | | Piotr Maciejczak | 2 |
| 195 | | Danny Trueman | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Ted Evetts | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Matthias Ehlers | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Jack Todd | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Jamai van den Herik | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Oliver King | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Ron Meulenkamp | 1.25 |
| 195 | | Samuel Whittaker | 1.25 |
| 203 | | Danny van Trijp | 0.75 |
| 203 | | Jesus Salate | 0.75 |