Luke Woodhouse will voluntarily miss a Euro Tour event for the first time in his career this season, choosing family over darts by skipping the tournament in Sindelfingen, Germany, which starts on April 17. The 37-year-old Englishman is making the exception due to his wife's 40th birthday party, as he stated in an interview with Tungsten Tales: "I mean, I'm going to have to miss one European Tour this year for my wife's 40th birthday party. But I'll make sure I'll be at every single one of these." He added, "It's her birthday party (his wife) and she's got about a million people coming, so I've got to make sure I'm there."
Woodhouse, currently No. 21 on the PDC Order of Merit with over £720,000 in career prize money, emphasized the importance of Euro Tour events for his sporting position. He said, "For me, they're so important for the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, make sure your rankings keep high because the prize money is so good here, so yeah, they're higher." The Euro Tour plays a major role in ranking points that carry significant weight for qualifying for majors like the World Matchplay and the Grand Prix, making his decision to skip the Sindelfingen event particularly striking given its high level, strong line-ups, and financial value.
The decision has been praised on social media, with fans expressing appreciation for Woodhouse putting family first despite the sporting stakes. For Woodhouse himself, there appears to be no doubt, as he plans to play the rest of the European season normally and remains fully focused on maintaining his place inside the top 32.
