Luke Littler remains the undisputed world number one in the latest PDC Order of Merit update, with £2,886,000 in prize money—far ahead of Luke Humphries in second on £1,248,000. Gian van Veen holds third place with £950,250, while Michael van Gerwen sits fourth on £700,250. Jonny Clayton rounds out the top five with £645,000, with the gap between fifth and thirteenth positions less than £100,000. Stephen Bunting and Gary Anderson follow Clayton, with James Wade eighth, Josh Rock ninth, and Gerwyn Price completing the top 10 after a strong Pro Tour block moved him up one spot to tenth, displacing Danny Noppert to eleventh.
Behind them, Chris Dobey and Ryan Searle swapped places at 12th and 13th, with Nathan Aspinall, Ross Smith, and Martin Schindler filling out the top 16. Jermaine Wattimena is close to a debut in the world's top 16, occupying seventeenth with a slight lead over Damon Heta and Mike De Decker. Meanwhile, Rob Cross has slipped to twentieth and is being closely tracked by Luke Woodhouse in 21st. Wessel Nijman has risen to 24th and appears poised to break into the top 20 or even top 16 soon, having little to defend this season.
Several big names face ranking jeopardy. Dimitri Van den Bergh is 26th but risks falling outside the top 32 if he fails to defend his 2024 UK Open title in March. Dirk van Duijvenbode (30th) and Michael Smith (32nd) have reclaimed spots in the top 32, while Peter Wright (33rd), Joe Cullen (35th), and Raymond van Barneveld (36th) sit just outside. Lower down, Kim Huybrechts (61st) and Mario Vandenbogaerde (64th) are in the danger zone for Tour Card retention, needing to stay inside the top 64 after the World Darts Championship. Others like Wesley Plaisier (68th), Max Hopp (70th), Cor Dekker (72nd), Maik Kuivenhoven (76th), and Christian Kist (79th) have months to climb into that safety zone.
Among new Tour Card holders from 2026 Q-School, Adam Gawlas has started best, earning £17,250 for a provisional 90th place after a semi-final run on the floor. Shane McGuirk (92nd), Jimmy van Schie (93rd), Beau Greaves (96th), and Cristo Reyes (97th) have also banked at least £10,000 in their first month on the PDC circuit.
