At the top of the ProTour Order of Merit, Wessel Nijman remains the man to beat. The Dutchman continues to lead the rankings comfortably after 28 Players Championship events and 13 European Tour tournaments with £315,500. Eight titles this season underline his outstanding campaign. Behind him, Ross Smith sits second with £234,500, followed by Luke Woodhouse (£177,500), Chris Dobey (£174,500) and Kevin Doets (£172,250).
The latest ProTour headlines, however, belonged to James Wade. At the Blåkläder Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp, “The Machine” defeated Ross Smith 8-4 in the final to end a ten-year wait for another European Tour title. Wade’s previous triumph had come at the European Darts Matchplay in 2016. On his way to the title, the Englishman defeated Rob Cross, Danny Noppert and Damon Heta on Finals Day. Following his victory at Players Championship 1, it was already Wade’s second ProTour title of the season. With £119,000, he has climbed to 13th place on the ProTour Order of Merit.
Despite losing the final, Ross Smith continued his impressive season. “Smudger” had already won the Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest with an emphatic 8-2 victory over Gary Anderson, having previously claimed the International Darts Open in Riesa as well as Players Championships 5 and 20. With four PDC ranking titles and £234,500 to his name, Smith has firmly established himself in second place on the ProTour Order of Merit.
One week before Antwerp, Luke Littler had made the headlines at the ČEZ Czech Darts Open in Prague. The world number one defeated Luke Humphries 8-6 in the final to claim his second European Tour title of the season after his earlier success at the Poland Darts Open. “The Nuke” currently sits 24th on the ProTour Order of Merit with £102,000.
At the end of August, the Players Championship series staged its most recent two events in Leicester. At PC27, Jermaine Wattimena claimed his third PDC ranking title. The Dutchman defeated, among others, Luke Littler in a deciding leg on his way to the title before overcoming compatriot Kevin Doets 8-6 in the final. Just 24 hours later, Luke Humphries took centre stage. “Cool Hand” won Players Championship 28 with an 8-6 victory over Brendan Dolan, securing his third Players Championship title of the season.
Gabriel Clemens also remains one of Germany’s ProTour success stories this year. At the beginning of July, the German defeated Luke Woodhouse in the final of Players Championship 24 to claim the first PDC title of his career. The “German Giant” currently sits 41st on the ProTour Order of Merit with £59,250. In the separate Players Championship Order of Merit, Clemens remains 22nd with £46,750 and is therefore firmly on course to qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
All 2026 ProTour winners at a glance
| Date | Tournament | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 09.02. | Players Championship 1, Hildesheim | James Wade |
| 10.02. | Players Championship 2, Hildesheim | Wessel Nijman |
| 16.02. | Players Championship 3, Wigan | Chris Dobey |
| 17.02. | Players Championship 4, Wigan | Luke Humphries |
| 20.-22.02. | Poland Darts Open, Krakow | Luke Littler |
| 24.02. | Players Championship 5, Leicester | Ross Smith |
| 25.02. | Players Championship 6, Leicester | Gerwyn Price |
| 13.-15.03. | European Darts Trophy, Göttingen | Wessel Nijman |
| 20.-22.03. | Belgian Darts Open, Wieze | Luke Humphries |
| 30.03. | Players Championship 7, Leicester | Ryan Searle |
| 31.03. | Players Championship 8, Leicester | Wessel Nijman |
| 04.-06.04. | German Darts Grand Prix, Munich | Nathan Aspinall |
| 13.04. | Players Championship 9, Wigan | Chris Dobey |
| 14.04. | Players Championship 10, Wigan | Wessel Nijman |
| 17.-19.04. | European Darts Grand Prix, Sindelfingen | Gerwyn Price |
| 27.04. | Players Championship 11, Milton Keynes | Beau Greaves |
| 28.04. | Players Championship 12, Milton Keynes | Wessel Nijman |
| 04.05. | Players Championship 13, Hildesheim | Kevin Doets |
| 05.05. | Players Championship 14, Hildesheim | Wessel Nijman |
| 08.-10.05. | Austrian Darts Open, Graz | Josh Rock |
| 12.05. | Players Championship 15, Leicester | Michael van Gerwen |
| 13.05. | Players Championship 16, Leicester | Andrew Gilding |
| 18.05. | Players Championship 17, Leicester | Luke Humphries |
| 19.05. | Players Championship 18, Leicester | Luke Woodhouse |
| 22.-24.05. | International Darts Open, Riesa | Ross Smith |
| 29.-31.05. | Baltic Sea Darts Open, Kiel | Luke Woodhouse |
| 02.06. | Players Championship 19, Milton Keynes | Jeffrey de Graaf |
| 03.06. | Players Championship 20, Milton Keynes | Ross Smith |
| 16.06. | Players Championship 21, Wigan | Wessel Nijman |
| 17.06. | Players Championship 22, Wigan | Rob Cross |
| 19.-21.06. | Slovak Darts Open, Bratislava | Wessel Nijman |
| 06.07. | Players Championship 23, Leicester | Cameron Menzies |
| 07.07. | Players Championship 24, Leicester | Gabriel Clemens |
| 10.-12.07. | European Darts Open, Leverkusen | Krzysztof Ratajski |
| 28.07. | Players Championship 25, Hildesheim | Henry Coates |
| 29.07. | Players Championship 26, Hildesheim | Sebastian Bialecki |
| 25.08. | Players Championship 27, Leicester | Jermaine Wattimena |
| 26.08. | Players Championship 28, Leicester | Luke Humphries |
| 28.-30.08. | Hungarian Darts Trophy, Budapest | Ross Smith |
| 04.-06.09. | ČEZ Czech Darts Open, Prague | Luke Littler |
| 11.-13.09. | Blåkläder Flanders Darts Trophy, Antwerp | James Wade |
Coming up: Players Championships in Den Bosch and the European Tour finale
Attention now turns back to the Players Championship series. On September 22 and 23, Players Championships 29 and 30 will take place at the Maaspoort in Den Bosch. Four further Players Championship events will then remain: PC31 and PC32 will also be held in Den Bosch at the end of October, before the series concludes with PC33 and PC34 in Leicester at the beginning of November.
Meanwhile, only two European Tour tournaments remain. The Swiss Darts Trophy will take place in Basel from October 9 to 11, before the European Tour season concludes with the ELTEN Safety Shoes Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht from October 16 to 18. Just a few days later, the European Championship will be staged in Dortmund from October 22 to 25.
Tickets for PDC European Tour events are available HERE.
