World Series Order of Merit Update: Stephen Bunting leads despite disappointment in New York, Luke Humphries rises thanks to US Darts Masters win

Despite a disappointing performance at the US Darts Masters, Stephen Bunting remains the clear number one on the World Series Order of Merit. The Bullet suffered a surprise first-round defeat in New York at the hands of Jason Brandon, but still holds a commanding lead at the top with 33 points.

The World Series event at Madison Square Garden was ultimately won by Luke Humphries, who defeated Stowe Buntz (6–4), Danny Lauby (6–2), Gerwyn Price (7–2) and Nathan Aspinall (8–6) en route to the title. The win earned Humphries 12 points, moving him up to fourth place in the World Series standings with 21 points.

Sitting between Bunting and Humphries are Gerwyn Price and Rob Cross. Price is second on 23 points, having reached the final of the Bahrain Darts Masters earlier this year—where he lost to Bunting—and also made two semi-finals and a quarter-final. Cross, who triumphed at the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch, sits third on 22 points.

Just behind the top four is a small gap to fifth-placed Nathan Aspinall. The runner-up in New York now has 17 points to his name, three ahead of reigning world champion Luke Littler. Interestingly, The Nuke has only reached one semi-final in this year’s World Series campaign, falling at the quarter-final stage in three other events.

Chris Dobey missed this weekend’s US Darts Masters but did compete in the season’s first three events. He currently holds seventh place with seven points. Michael van Gerwen returned to action in New York and now occupies eighth place with six points. Mighty Mike had skipped the Nordic Darts Masters earlier this month following the announcement of his separation from his wife Daphne.

Rounding out the top 10 are Damon Heta and Peter Wright, both on five points.

Prize money at World Series events does not count towards the main world rankings. Instead, players earn points for the World Series Order of Merit. Each participant receives one point simply for taking part. Reaching the quarter-finals earns three points, a semi-final spot is worth five, the runner-up gets eight, and the tournament winner collects twelve.

At the end of the World Series season, the top eight players in the rankings will automatically qualify for the World Series Finals, which will be held later this year in Amsterdam. Following the US leg, the tour will continue with events in Poland, Australia, and New Zealand, before culminating in the Finals from 12–14 September.