In the relentless grind of the PDC Pro Tour, where every throw can rewrite destinies, the 29th Players Championship in Leicester delivered a rollercoaster of drama that has left the Order of Merit in tatters for some of darts’ biggest names. Ross Smith, the affable Englishman with a swing that could power a wind farm, etched his name deeper into the 2025 folklore by clinching his second title of the season. In a final that had the crowd on the edge of their seats, Smith edged out Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock 8-7, his composure under pressure proving the difference in a match littered with maximums and missed match darts. It was a poetic cap to an event that saw underdogs rise and giants stumble, with just five tournaments left before the curtain falls on the Players Championship Finals at Butlin’s Minehead from November 21-23.
Smith’s victory wasn’t just a personal milestone—it was a seismic shift in the rankings landscape. The 35-year-old from Lancashire pocketed £12,000, catapulting him to second place on the Order of Merit with a haul of £89,000, closing the gap on leader Gerwyn Price to a tantalizing £5,500. Price, the Welsh Iceman, held firm at the summit with £99,500 despite a heartbreaking 6-5 second-round exit to qualifier Darryl Pilgrim. “It’s all about consistency now,” Smith might say in the quiet aftermath, though his grin in the winner’s circle spoke volumes about the relief of turning form into silverware. This triumph follows his earlier conquest at PC16, marking him as a late-season predator hungry for more.
Yet amid the celebrations, the real story unfolded in the shadows of the leaderboard. Luke Humphries, the world No.1 and 2025’s double major winner with the World Masters and Premier League under his belt, clawed his way back into contention. Starting the day outside the top 64 at 68th, Humphries fired a tournament-high average of 102.34 in his quarter-final run before falling 6-5 to Scotland’s Gary Anderson. That deep run netted him £3,500, boosting his tally to £23,500 and rocketing him to 56th—safely inside the qualifying spots for Minehead. It’s a lifeline for the Bury St Edmunds star, who has endured a patchy Pro Tour campaign despite his televised dominance. With the Finals offering a £600,000 prize pot and a shot at a third major this year, Humphries’ resurgence feels like form arriving precisely when the clock is ticking loudest. As he reflected on similar pressures earlier in the season, the weight of expectation hasn’t broken him yet; instead, it’s forging a champion ready to defend his 2024 crown against a field of floor-level floor-fillers.
Contrast that with the precarious perches of two other Lukes—or rather, the lack thereof. Teen sensation Luke Littler, the 18-year-old “Nuke” whose 2025 has been a whirlwind of World Championship glory, UK Open upsets, and World Matchplay magic, finds himself in uncharted territory. A string of withdrawals, including from PC28 and PC29, has seen him plummet to 68th with £21,000—tied with Germany’s Lukas Wenig but agonizingly outside the provisional cut line. Littler’s absences stem from the brutal tour grind, a sentiment he voiced candidly: “It’s tough, especially when these players go over to the likes of Riesa, you’ve got to get trains, you’ve got to get direct flights, connecting flights, and then you’re back home.” Echoing Humphries’ own gripes about “too much darts,” Littler’s prioritization of recovery over accumulation has backfired in the short term, but with PC30 looming this week and four more events through October, a hot streak could still blast him back inside. Missing Minehead would be a bitter pill for the kid who reached last year’s final, losing 11-7 to Humphries in a clash that still sends shivers down spines.
Then there’s Michael van Gerwen, the three-time world champion and seven-time Players Championship Finals conqueror, whose slide continues to stun. The Dutch maestro, once a fixture in every major draw, crashed out 6-0 to Smith in the last 16 at PC29, leaving him mired at 90th with a meager £14,500—£6,500 adrift of safety. It’s a far cry from his glory days, with VGG’s form flickering like a faulty fluorescent in the face of younger, hungrier challengers. Van Gerwen’s frustrations have bubbled over in past outings, where he’s lamented self-inflicted wounds, but here, the numbers don’t lie: five events remain to salvage his season and secure a spot he’s claimed more times than most have dreamed. For a player who’s won everything, the specter of sitting out Minehead adds an extra layer of urgency to his throws.
The broader field tells a tale of Dutch dominance and Belgian battles. Gian van Veen, the 23-year-old prodigy, holds third with £87,500 despite a last-32 heartbreak to Niels Zonneveld. Jermaine Wattimena, “The Machine Gun,” lurks at seventh (£66,000), while Damon Heta (fourth, £75,000) and Stephen Bunting (fifth, £73,500) round out a top five that’s as stacked as a Leicester takeaway queue. Belgians are a mixed bag: Mike De Decker sits comfortably at 28th (£39,000), Mario Vandenbogaerde at 41st (£29,500), but Kim Huybrechts (80th, £17,500), Andy Baetens (87th, £16,000), and Dimitri Van den Bergh (115th) teeter on the brink.
Here’s a snapshot of the top 30 after PC29, with prize money in £1,000 units:
| Rank | Player | Prize Money |
|——|———————–|————-|
| 1 | Gerwyn Price | 99.5 |
| 2 | Ross Smith | 89 |
| 3 | Gian van Veen | 87.5 |
| 4 | Damon Heta | 75 |
| 5 | Stephen Bunting | 73.5 |
| 6 | Cameron Menzies | 67 |
| 7 | Jermaine Wattimena | 66 |
| 8 | Josh Rock | 64.5 |
| 9 | Chris Dobey | 62 |
| 10 | Jonny Clayton | 61.5 |
| 11 | Ryan Searle | 60.5 |
| 12 | Danny Noppert | 57.5 |
| 13 | Joe Cullen | 56.5 |
| 14 | Wessel Nijman | 56 |
| 15 | Martin Schindler | 55.5 |
| 16 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 53.5 |
| 17 | Gary Anderson | 52 |
| 18 | James Wade | 51 |
| 19 | Niels Zonneveld | 48 |
| 20 | Scott Williams | 46.5 |
| 21 | Kevin Doets | 46.5 |
| 22 | William O’Connor | 44 |
| 23 | Brendan Dolan | 44 |
| 24 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 43 |
| 25 | Dave Chisnall | 42.5 |
| 26 | Bradley Brooks | 41.5 |
| 27 | Sebastian Bialecki | 39.5 |
| 28 | Mike De Decker | 39 |
| 29 | Andrew Gilding | 38 |
| 30 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 37 |
As PC30 fires up in the coming days, followed by double-headers on October 14-15 and 29-30, the math gets merciless. The top 64—currently cut at £21,000—will battle for Minehead glory, where legacies are made in the flicker of fluorescent lights. For Humphries, it’s validation; for Littler and Van Gerwen, redemption. In darts’ unforgiving arithmetic, where a 180 can save a season and a missed double can doom it, the final sprint promises plot twists worthy of a thriller. Will the Nuke explode back? Can Mighty Mike muster one last roar? Or will the floor tour’s faceless floor-dwellers steal the show? One thing’s for sure: with £600,000 on the line and history hanging in the balance, the oche has never felt so alive.
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