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PDC Order of Merit Update: Michael van Gerwen on brink of dropping out of world's top 10 as Gary Anderson overtakes three-time world champion

PDC
by Kieran Wood
Michael van Gerwen & Gary Anderson are fierce rivals
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Michael van Gerwen has dropped to tenth in the latest PDC Order of Merit following another disappointing European Tour campaign, with Gary Anderson moving above the three-time world champion in the rankings. The Dutchman is now just £3,000 ahead of Nathan Aspinall, leaving his place among the world's top ten increasingly vulnerable heading into the final months of 2026.
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The conclusion of the European Tour season in Maastricht has brought several changes to the world rankings, with Danny Noppert climbing above Josh Rock, Ross Smith moving into 14th and Dutch Darts Championship winner Niels Zonneveld reaching a career-high position.
Meanwhile, Luke Littler retains his commanding advantage at world number one, although the gap between Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen in second and third remains extremely narrow ahead of the European Championship in Dortmund.
Niels Zonneveld holds the trophy aloft.
Niels Zonneveld claimed a surprise victory at the Dutch Darts Championship

Van Gerwen drops to tenth as Anderson moves ahead

Van Gerwen's struggles on the European Tour continued at the Dutch Darts Championship, where he suffered a 6-5 defeat to William O'Connor in his opening match.
The three-time world champion was eliminated by a spectacular 121 checkout on the bullseye, leaving him without a victory in his final three European Tour appearances of 2026.
That early exit has seen Van Gerwen fall one place to tenth on the PDC Order of Merit, with Anderson moving above him into ninth.
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The Scot now sits on £591,750 in ranking prize money, compared to Van Gerwen's £587,500. With Aspinall immediately behind on £584,500, the former world number one has just £3,000 separating him from a drop outside the top ten.
It represents another setback for a player who spent years dominating the world rankings, with Van Gerwen now facing the prospect of slipping outside the elite group as the season approaches its conclusion.

Littler dominates as Humphries and Van Veen remain closely matched

At the top of the rankings, Littler continues to hold an enormous advantage over his nearest challengers. The reigning world champion sits comfortably at number one with £3,113,500 in ranking prize money, more than £2 million ahead of second-placed Humphries.
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The battle immediately behind Littler remains considerably tighter. Humphries holds second place with £1,062,500, while Van Veen is third on £1,045,750. Just £16,750 separates the pair, who have exchanged positions in the rankings throughout 2026.
Gerwyn Price remains fourth with £787,000, followed by Jonny Clayton in fifth and James Wade in sixth. Noppert has moved up to seventh after reaching the Dutch Darts Championship final, overtaking Rock, who did not compete in Maastricht.
The former UK Open champion defeated Dave Chisnall, Jermaine Wattimena, Luke Woodhouse and Van Veen on his way to the final, producing a particularly impressive 113.42 average against Woodhouse in the quarter-finals.
However, his wait for a maiden European Tour title continues after an 8-5 defeat to Zonneveld, marking his fifth loss in as many European Tour finals. Noppert nevertheless climbs to £623,500 in ranking prize money, moving £17,000 ahead of Rock and within £57,750 of sixth-placed Wade.

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Ross Smith climbs as Zonneveld reaches career high

Ross Smith has also gained ground after completing an outstanding European Tour season. The Englishman finished top of the 2026 European Tour Order of Merit, collecting £158,000 across a campaign featuring two titles and two runner-up finishes.
Smith rises one position to 14th on the main PDC Order of Merit, overtaking Ryan Searle. With £572,250 in ranking prize money, he sits just £4,000 behind Stephen Bunting in 13th and £5,000 behind Wessel Nijman in 12th.
Meanwhile, Zonneveld has been rewarded for his sensational triumph in Maastricht with a career-high world ranking. The 28-year-old claimed his maiden PDC ranking title after defeating Mike De Decker, Krzysztof Ratajski, Gerwyn Price, Wessel Nijman and Bunting before beating Noppert 8-5 in the final.
His breakthrough European Tour success earned him £35,000 in prize money and lifted him one place to 28th in the world rankings, with £316,750 in ranking earnings. Zonneveld moves above Daryl Gurney and further strengthens his position inside the world's top 32.
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O'Connor breaks into world's top 32 as European Championship places are decided

William O'Connor is another player celebrating a significant rankings milestone following his performances in Maastricht. The Irishman has entered the world's top 32 for the first time in his career, climbing one position to 32nd after his run at the Dutch Darts Championship.
His standout performance came against Van Gerwen, when he produced checkouts of 136, 131 and 121 to defeat the former world number one in front of his home supporters. O'Connor now heads to Dortmund for the European Championship, where he faces world number one Littler in the opening round.
Elsewhere, Karel Sedlacek climbs two places to 44th, moving above five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, who drops to 45th. The Czech player also secured European Championship qualification through the European Tour Order of Merit, claiming one of the final places at the expense of Kim Huybrechts.
Huybrechts endured a painful end to his qualifying campaign in Maastricht, missing four match darts against Jimmy van Schie before eventually losing 6-5. That defeat cost him a place in Dortmund, while the Belgian also drops four positions to 55th in the main world rankings.
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Jeffrey de Graaf climbs two places to 41st, while Cameron Menzies moves up to 25th at the expense of Kevin Doets.
With the European Tour season complete, the European Championship provides the next opportunity for ranking movement. Van Gerwen enters that stage of the calendar with his top-ten position under immediate pressure, while Humphries and Van Veen remain separated by less than £17,000 in the continuing battle for world number two.

PDC Order of Merit

Rank +/- NamePrize money
1   Luke Littler3113.5
2   Luke Humphries1062.5
3   Gian van Veen1045.75
4   Gerwyn Price787
5   Jonny Clayton706
6   James Wade681.25
7+1Danny Noppert623.5
8-1Josh Rock606.5
9+1Gary Anderson591.75
10-1Michael van Gerwen587.5
11   Nathan Aspinall584.5
12   Wessel Nijman577.5
13   Stephen Bunting576.25
14+1Ross Smith572.25
15-1Ryan Searle570.25
16   Jermaine Wattimena543.75
17   Chris Dobey534.75
18   Luke Woodhouse514
19   Krzysztof Ratajski440
20   Dirk van Duijvenbode434
21   Damon Heta418.75
22   Rob Cross398.5
23   Martin Schindler391.25
24   Ryan Joyce390
25+1Cameron Menzies378.5
26-1Kevin Doets375.25
27   Andrew Gilding359.25
28+1Niels Zonneveld316.75
29-1Daryl Gurney303.5
30   Dave Chisnall285.25
31   Joe Cullen280
32+1William O'Connor279.5
33-1Ritchie Edhouse274.5
34   Mike De Decker268.5
35   Ricardo Pietreczko243.5
36+1Niko Springer239.75
37-1Michael Smith235.75
38   Peter Wright234.5
39   Callan Rydz193.25
39+1Justin Hood193.25
41+2Jeffrey de Graaf190.75
42   Mickey Mansell189.75
43-2Martin Lukeman187.5
44+2Karel Sedlacek180.75
45-1Raymond van Barneveld176.25
46+1James Hurrell175.75
47-2Madars Razma174
48+1Scott Williams170
49-1Gabriel Clemens167.5
50   Connor Scutt166.75
51+2Brendan Dolan166
52+2Sebastian Bialecki165.5
53-1Ricky Evans165
54+1Mensur Suljovic155.5
55-4Kim Huybrechts152
56   Keane Barry147.75
57   Ian White143.5
58   Richard Veenstra138.25
59   Dimitri Van den Bergh135.5
60+1Bradley Brooks127.5
61-1Alan Soutar124
62   Rob Owen123
63   Ryan Meikle118.25
64   Lukas Wenig116.25
65   Nick Kenny116
66+1Max Hopp115
67-1Mario Vandenbogaerde113
68   Cam Crabtree104.5
69   Thibault Tricole100.75
70+1Cristo Reyes100
71-1Wesley Plaisier98
72   Maik Kuivenhoven85.5
73   Adam Lipscombe80
74   Tom Bissell76.25
75   Beau Greaves72
76   Darryl Pilgrim69.5
77   Cor Dekker68.75
78   Dominik Gruellich62.25
79   Christian Kist60.5
80   Tom Sykes57.75
81   Andy Boulton56
82   Jim Long55.25
83   Charlie Manby47.25
83   Oskar Lukasiak47.25
85   Joe Hunt46
86+1Jimmy van Schie45
87-1Thomas Lovely43
88   Leon Weber41.25
89   Darius Labanauskas40.75
90   Marvin van Velzen37.75
91   Tavis Dudeney37.25
92   Viktor Tingstrom37
93   Shane McGuirk36.75
94   Alexander Merkx34.75
95   Henry Coates34
96   Adam Gawlas33.75
97   Kai Gotthardt33
98   Adam Paxton32.75
99   Greg Ritchie32.25
100+1Owen Bates31.75
101-1David Sharp31.25
102-1Jeffrey De Zwaan29.75
103   Mervyn King29
104   Adam Warner28.75
105   Jurjen van der Velde28.5
106   Martijn Dragt28.25
107+4Stephen Burton28
108-1Dennie Olde Kalter27.5
109-1Chris Landman26.75
110-1Benjamin Pratnemer26.5
111-1Tommy Morris26.25
112   Jeffrey Sparidaans25.75
113   Tyler Thorpe24
114   Sietse Lap23.25
115   Tommy Lishman23
116   Niall Culleton22.75
117   Scott Waites22.5
118   Jack Tweddell21.75
119   Arno Merk21.5
120   Stefan Bellmont20
120   Maximilian Czerwinski20
122   Rhys Griffin19.25
122   Adam Leek19.25
124   Derek Coulson19
125   Steve Lennon17.75
126   Stephen Rosney17
127   Stefaan Henderyck16.75
128   Tytus Kanik15
129   Harry Ward14.25
130   Samuel Price14
131   Carl Sneyd13.5
132   Nathan Potter13
133   Daniel Ayres12.75
134   Yorick Hofkens12.5
135   Pascal Rupprecht12.25
136   Andy Baetens11.5
137   Daniel Klose10.75
138   Lewis Pride10.25
139   Rusty-Jake Rodriguez10
140   Marvin Kraft9.5
140   Paul Krohne9.5
142   Boris Krcmar8.5
143+6Jonas Masalin7.5
143   Michael Unterbuchner7.5
145-1Jan Schmidt7
145-1Patrik Kovacs7
147-1Pero Ljubic6.5
148-1Christopher Wickenden6.25
149-1Johan Engstrom6
150-1Nandor Major5.5
150-1Dragutin Horvat5.5
150-1Marcel Hausotter5.5
153   Jack Aldridge5.25
154   Oliver Mitchell4.25
155+15Krzysztof Kciuk4
155   Gyorgy Jehirszki4
155   Jani Haavisto4
155   Finn Behrens4
155   Callum Goffin4
155   Anton Ostlund4
161-1Ted Evetts3.75
161-1Aden Kirk3.75
161-1Filip Bereza3.75
161-1Scott Campbell3.75
165NewHeine Uuldriks3.5
165-1Laszlo Kadar3.5
165-1Valters Melderis3.5
168-2Archie Self3.25
169-2Patrik Williams3
170-2Gilbert van der Meijden2.5
170-2Graham Hall2.5
172NewMaikel Verberk2
172-2Alex Fehlmann2
172-2Bruno Stoeckli2
172-2Roman Wellinger2
172-2Jaimy Jacobs2
172-2Jeroen Caron2
172-2Kevin Lankhuizen2
172-2Michael Hansen2
172-2Petr Tous2
172-2David Rosi2
172-2Jiri Brejcha2
172-2Martin Homola2
172-2Andras Borbely2
172-2David Pisek2
172-2Milan Biro2
172-2Jaimy Van de Weerd2
172-2Michal Smejda2
172-2Mio Varila2
172-2Adrian Dudek2
172-2Gabriel Varaljay2
172-2Jan Sliacky2
172-2Juraj Holub2
172-2Peter Kelemen2
172-2Jason Riedtke2
172-2Teemu Harju2
172-2Liam Maendl-Lawrance2
172-2Aaron Hardy2
172-2Nick Zwittnigg2
172-2Zoran Lerchbacher2
172-2Michael Hurtz2
172-2Petr Krivka2
172-2Robin Masino2
172-2Kevin Troppmann2
172-2Francois Schweyen2
172-2Pascal Devroey2
172-2Florian Hempel2
172-2Florian Preis2
172-2Wojciech Brulinski2
172-2Sam Spivey2
172-2Andreas Harrysson2
172-2Dawid Robak2
172-2Miroslaw Grudziecki2
172-2Piotr Maciejczak2
215-2Danny Trueman1.25
215-2Matthias Ehlers1.25
215-2Jack Todd1.25
215-2Jamai van den Herik1.25
215-2Oliver King1.25
215-2Ron Meulenkamp1.25
215-2Samuel Whittaker1.25
222-2Danny van Trijp0.75
222-2Jesus Salate0.75
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
See author's posts
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