PDC Order of Merit update: Luke Littler extends lead over Humphries at the top as Aspinall climbs back into top 16

Luke Littler has taken the first spot in the world rankings a little tighter after winning the Players Championship Finals last weekend. 'The Nuke' won his sixth major title of the season in Minehead.

The level Littler showed over the weekend was again not normal. His lowest average was 102.7, his highest 108.5. With resounding victories over Jeffrey de Graaf (6-1), Ross Smith (6-3), Ricardo Pietreczko (10-6), Chris Dobey (10-5) and Gerwyn Price (11-8), Littler secured a spot in the final. Then the 18-year-old Englishman was too strong for Nathan Aspinall in the final, 11-8.

In winning the title, Littler took the top prize of £120,000. Meanwhile, the reigning world champion tops the PDC Order of Merit with £1,970,500 in prize money. His lead over number two Luke Humphries (£1,572,000) is now already substantial, although there is much to play for at the World Darts Championship in December, where a sum of £1 million awaits the winner. Despite that huge sum, Humphries is the only player who can take over first place from Littler at Alexandra Palace.

Michael van Gerwen, who failed to qualify for the Players Championship Finals, follows in huge distance in third place with £681,250. Then there is a gap to fourth place Stephen Bunting, who earned £593,750 in prize money at the ranking tournaments in the past two years.

Between spot four and spot 11, the differences are a lot smaller. The 11th spot is held by Josh Rock with £510,500. So that means there is 83,250 pounds between the fourth and eleventh positions, and so that could make for huge differences after the World Championship.

In the top-10, Danny Noppert rose to sixth place at the expense of James Wade, while Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price advanced to eighth and ninth, respectively. The child of the bill was Gian van Veen, who had to drop two spots and close out the top-10.

Nathan Aspinall was one of the big winners in terms of rankings. Thanks to his final place, 'The Asp' moved up six spots, returning the Englishman to the top-16 of the world rankings. Aspinall finds himself in the 15th position and thus also did good business with an eye on a possible return to the Premier League Darts.

Damon Heta and Dave Chisnall both lost three spots, and are now 16th and 21st, respectively. One place gain, on the other hand, is for Jermaine Wattimena, who is now nineteenth and getting closer and closer to a top-16 debut. Daryl Gurney moved up three spots and is now ranked No. 22 in the world.

Lower down in the world rankings, James Hurrell (+5) and Mario Vandenbogaerde (+3) did well, now ranking 63rd and 66th, respectively. Both players must be in the top-64 of the PDC Order of Merit after the World Darts Championship to retain their PDC Tour Card.

The big surprise of the weekend was Adam Lipscombe, who missed ten match darts to reach his first quarterfinal at a major. He moved up ten spots and is now 82nd in the world rankings. Lipscombe still has until 2026 to secure a spot in the top 64.