Van Gerwen extends lead in European Tour Order of Merit after Austrian Darts Open triumph

Michael van Gerwen has strengthened his position atop of the European Tour Order of Merit sealing the Austrian Darts Open.

Van Gerwen defeated compatriot Danny Noppert 6-5 in the final of the Euro Tour tournament in Graz.

With this, Mighty Mike earned £25,000 in prize money, bringing his total to £59,500. Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price share second place with 25,000 pounds each after both claiming titles.  

Rounding out the top five is Jonny Clayton and Rob Cross with Danny Noppert rising up to seventh after his run in Graz.

Later this month, Euro Tour tournaments will be held in Leverkusen (May 6-8), Prague (May 13-15), Stuttgart (May 20-22) and Zwolle (May 27-29), respectively.

At the end of the season, the 32 best players in the final ranking will participate in the European Championship in Dortmund. This tournament is scheduled from 27 to 30 October.

European Tour Order of Merit after four events

1 Michael van Gerwen £59,500

2 Luke Humphries £25,000

2 Gerwyn Price £25,000

4 Jonny Clayton £19,500

5 Rob Cross £19,000

6 Danny Noppert £15,000

6 Peter Wright £15,000

8 Dirk van Duijvenbode £14,000

8 Martin Lukeman £14,000

10 Nathan Aspinall £13,000

10 Michael Smith £13,000

12 Dimitri Van den Bergh £11,500

13 Joe Cullen £11,000

14 Damon Heta £9,500

15 Daryl Gurney £8,500

16 Madars Razma £8,000

16 James Wade £8,000

16 Karel Sedlacek £8,000

19 Ricky Evans £7,000

19 Wesley Plaisier £7,000

19 Martin Schindler £7,000

19 Ryan Searle £7,000

23 Stephen Bunting £6,500

24 Krzysztof Ratajski £6,000

24 Kim Huybrechts £6,000

26 Keegan Brown £5,000

26 Scott Waites £5,000

26 Keane Barry £5,000

26 Dave Chisnall £5,000

26 Vincent van der Voort £5,000

31 Gabriel Clemens £4,000

31 Jeffrey De Zwaan £4,000

31 Jermaine Wattimena £4,000

31 Mensur Suljovic £4,000

31 Chris Dobey £4,000

31 Niko Springer £4,000

37 Callan Rydz £3,000

37 Danny Jansen £3,000

37 Zoran Lerchbacher £3,000

37 Jim Williams £3,000

37 Berry van Peer £3,000

37 Darius Labanauskas £3,000

37 Devon Petersen £3,000

37 Max Hopp £3,000

37 Alan Soutar £3,000

37 Luke Woodhouse £3,000

37 Jose de Sousa £3,000

37 Brian Raman £3,000

37 Lewy Williams £3,000

50 Rowby-John Rodriguez £2,000

50 Brett Claydon £2,000

50 Josh Rock £2,000

50 Ross Smith £2,000

50 Cameron Menzies £2,000

50 Patrik Gosnak £2,000

50 Raymond van Barneveld £2,000

50 Boris Krcmar £2,000

50 Danny Baggish £2,000

50 Lukas Wenig £2,000

50 Dragutin Horvat £2,000

50 Adam Gawlas £2,000

50 Jamie Hughes £2,000

50 Martijn Kleermaker £2,000

50 Jose Justicia £2,000

50 Mervyn King £2,000

50 Ritchie Edhouse £2,000

50 Krzysztof Kciuk £2,000

50 Jeff Smith £2,000

50 Nico Kurz £2,000

50 Simon Whitlock £2,000

71 Tony Martinez £1,000

71 Radek Szaganski £1,000

71 Matt Campbell £1,000

71 Steve Beaton £1,000

71 Johan Engstrom £1,000

71 Thibault Tricole £1,000

71 Ian White £1,000

71 Thomas Junghans £1,000

71 Adam Hunt £1,000

71 James Wilson £1,000

71 Ryan Meikle £1,000

71 Daniel Larsson £1,000

71 John O'Shea £1,000

71 Mario Vandenbogaerde £1,000

71 Stefan Bellmont £1,000

71 Joe Murnan £1,000

71 George Killington £1,000

71 Jimmy Hendriks £1,000

71 Nathan Rafferty £1,000

71 Luc Peters £1,000

71 Gian van Veen £1,000

71 Marko Kantele £1,000

71 Adrian Lewis £1,000

71 Ron Meulenkamp £1,000

71 Wayne Jones £1,000

71 Fabian Schmutzler £1,000

71 Janos Vegso £1,000

71 Danny van Trijp £1,000

71 Florian Hempel £1,000

71 David Schlichting £1,000

71 Andy Boulton £1,000

71 Dennis Nilsson £1,000