"She doesn’t ask me for a lot and she’d never normally ask me to miss anything" - Luke Woodhouse opens up on skipping prior European Tour event

Luke Woodhouse abruptly halted his run of 26 consecutive European Tour events participated in Sindelfingen, choosing to spend some time with his family while celebrating a special occasion. Back to the day job at the Austrian Darts Open, he showed his class to take down Robert Owen 6-1 in a dominant manner.

Averaging over a ton, the Englishman showed his worth. He took out 67% of doubles created which helped restrict any chances that Owen could create and aiding his run to glory.

Now back competing on the Euro Tour in Graz, he spoke to Dartsnews about his absence from the prior event while touching on an impressive showing in a venue he was a big fan of. "I obviously missed the last European Tour, but playing on this stage like this is unbelievable," he told Dartsnews. "It’s a new venue this time as well, so yeah, it’s good to get the first win. A 100 average — I’ll take it all day long."

Many darters do not take losing well, especially if it is in the final of an event. This occurred for Woodhouse as recently as Players Championship 13 when, still in search of a maiden PDC ranking title, he had the door slam shut in his face once more with Kevin Doets picking up the spoils.

Instead of wallowing in despair after another missed opportunity, Woodhouse kept his head high and sought the positives from another deep run. "Look, I’m quite a realist really. I probably take more out of losing than I do out of winning, so I always try to take something from everything I do," he commented.

"You’re going to lose more games of darts than you win. I lost in the final, but getting to a final — not many people make finals during the year. So it’s coming, and I think I proved today with my performance that I’m in a good place."

Still without that elusive ranking title, it has not halted Woodhouse in his tracks. Now sitting at world number 20, he is making a name for himself with remarkable consistency and some stunning darts at times. While a deep run in a big TV tournament is still pending for 'Woody' outside of the 2024 European Championship, he will keep persevering.

As for the title drought, he sees the funny side. "I say to people all the time when we have banter between the lads — I speak to Callan Rydz and he’s won two ProTours, but I’m where I am without winning any titles, so imagine if I start winning stuff.

"For me, it’s all about consistency. I’m around 20th or 21st in the world without winning a title and without a massive deep run in a TV tournament. I’d rather be consistent and stay on this tour for a long time than be a flash in the pan or have a good three or four years and then drop off. So yeah, consistency is everything for me."

There is no better place to make a name for yourself than in front of the TV cameras at Ally Pally. "I always look forward to the Worlds, I’m not going to lie. The Worlds are my favourite tournament," Woodhouse explained. "But I’d also love to go to the Matchplay and perform well and win a game.

"I’ve played there twice and I don’t think I performed as well as I know I can. When you speak to other players, they always say the Matchplay is their highlight, so I’d love to go there and perform really well. We’ll see how the rest of the year goes."

Woodhouse has been present on the European Tour for 26 consecutive tournaments. In that time he reached a final in the 2025 Swiss Darts Trophy with a semi-final and a few quarterfinals dotted around. However, the streak ended last time out.

He made the decision not to turn up to the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen, opting to spend the weekend at home with his family for the special occasion being his wife's 40th birthday.

Woodhouse had been grateful for his partner's leniency over the years. This has helped him appear in numerous events and rise up the rankings. "She doesn’t ask me for a lot and she’d never normally ask me to miss anything. So if she asks me to miss something important to her, then of course I’m going to do it," he acknowledged. "I don’t like missing too many events, but it was my wife’s birthday, so I wasn’t going anywhere. There was no hesitation."

The choice was not an easy one. "Fairly difficult. But I always count myself in a fortunate position because I’m doing this for a living. I can pick and choose what I want to do. I choose to go to a lot of tournaments and miss things. I’ve missed weekends away with friends, golf events — loads of stuff. But at the end of the day, this is to provide for my family and my future. When I’m 50 or 55 and I don’t have to worry about money or a house, then it’ll all be worth it. So I don’t think about it too much."

It does not get much tougher than James Wade. 'The Machine' showed a lot of class and bottle in defeating the home hero Mensur Suljovic 6-3 to silence a packed Stadthalle Graz. Averaging over 103, he will be tough to topple in the third round.

When quizzed on who he would rather play, he sat on the fence. "I don’t really mind, to be honest. I know it’s a cliché, but I genuinely don’t mind," he said. "James is James, and Mensur can get huge support here in Austria. I’ve played Mensur quite a lot recently and he’s actually playing really well. It’s not like three or four years ago when he was struggling a little bit. Whoever I get is going to be a tough game, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow."

Suljovic has caused some players to boil over with anger and frustration with his lethargic style at times on the oche, most notably Joe Cullen at the recent PDC World Darts Championship. However, it would not have been a problem for Woodhouse if the Austrian was going to be his opponent.

"I’ve always said I don’t really mind playing slower, methodical players because, if anything, it gives me a bit more time. My worst games are when I feel rushed. When you’re playing Mensur, the last thing you do is feel rushed. Whoever comes through tomorrow will have played well. Reaching the Sunday of a European Tour is a big thing anyway, so I’ll just see what happens."