The revamped Winmau World Masters took place this weekend and with the tournament becoming a ranked major with an increased prize fund, we’ve seen some changes to the PDC Order of Merit…
Luke Humphries became the first player to add his name to the PDC Winmau World Masters winners list.
The World number 1 was in cruise control for most of the tournament averaging a 99.5 average and showing ruthless consistency and composure throughout.
It ended up being close in the end though as a resurgent Jonny Clayton was looking to win the Master title for the second time in his career.
Clayton had an exceptional tournament making the highest average of 112, registering some clinical 60% games on the doubles, beat Luke Littler in a match where The Nuke averaged 108 (second highest of the tournament), and pushed Humphries right the way to a deciding leg in the final.
See also – Jonny Clayton admits he nearly QUIT darts last year
Overall, the tournament was a great watch, despite the increased prize fund though, there haven’t been too many significant movements in the rankings as the previous format was unranked so players were not defending any prize money.
Below we’ve looked at some of the standout winners and losers when it comes to ranking changes and what it means for these players.
Data for the full ranking changes has been sourced from dartsrankings.com
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Order of Merit Ranking Changes: Losers
Chris Dobey: Down 1 Place
Chris Dobey won The Masters in 2023 but as it was a non-ranking event, he didn’t have to defend the £65,000 in prize money that he earned at the time.
Still, Dobey will be disappointed with his tournament.
The 2025 World Darts Championship semi-finalist was selected for the 2025 Premier League so has a huge opportunity this year to build his profile in the game.
A first round loss to Ryan Searle is not the kind of start that Hollywood will have wanted in major tournaments this year. The early exit saw him only drop a single place in the OoM but it does put him outside the top 10 now.
Josh Rock: Down 1 Place
Another player to fall just one place in the rankings is Josh Rock.
Rock, who has just signed with Target Darts, had a comfortable first round win over Jermaine Wattimena but would meet the World number 1 and eventual winner, Luke Humprhies in the second round.
A kinder draw could have seen Rock progress further in the tournament and it doesn’t help that a few days earlier he claimed he would be the man to challenge Luke Littler’s dominance in darts…
The ranking drop sees him fall to 17th. Just a single place outside of the top 16, but we know how beneficial it is for players to keep within that top 16 placing.
Michael Smith: Down 2 Places
The player hit hardest by the ranking changes is Michael Smith.
The 2023 World Champion has had a torrid time at the oche since reaching the pinnacle of the sport a few years ago.
It was well publicised that he was defending a ‘king’s ransom’ last year and a second round exit (his first match) at the World Championship was the worst possible scenario for Bully Boy.
The early exit saw him drop to joint-16th in the Order of Merit, barely hanging in, but a first round exit at the World Masters has now seen him drop to 18th.
Following the loss, he would post to social media to say he had been covering up an injury and was suffering with arthritis in his hand.
Recent form, ranking position and an injury concern make it very hard to see how Bully can make his way back to the elite in the near future.
We’re definitely not saying it’s a Michael Smith downfall, but he really does have his work cut out for him now.
Order of Merit Ranking Changes: Winners
Luke Humphries: No Change
Humprhies took the opportunity to add to his ranking money with a win worth £100k over the weekend.
Humphries couldn’t go up or down in the rankings but he will be keen to add as much as possible to his earnings this year.
He has over a million to defend in the second half of the year but a win like this will keep his confidence high. It also edges him closer to £2m in earnings on the two-year OoM.
He’s now passed £1.9m and could become the first player ever to reach the £2m milestone.
Nathan Aspinall: Up 1 Place
Aspinall had to take 3-4 months away from the game in 2024 to rehab an elbow injury.
Injury and poor form saw The Asp slip down the rankings and was one of the reasons he was reluctant to take time away from the game in the first place.
A quarter-final run at the World Championships and another quarter-final finish at the Masters sees Aspinall move back into the top 10 in the rankings, taking the 10th spot.
His inclusion in the Premier League was heavily criticised, having deep tournament runs is something The Asp wants in order to prove the doubters wrong…
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Dimitri Van den Bergh: Up 2 Places
The Dreammaker looked in great form all the way up to the semi-finals.
The Belgian had a very tough draw in Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall so after beating three heavyweights, people started to fancy his chances of winning the whole tournament.
He ran into the arguably better form player though in Jonny Clayton and would lose 5-2.
The run though was enough not only to see Dimi jump two places in the rankings but he’s now 16th and like we mentioned earlier, that’s a desirable spot that you don’t want to be on the wrong side of.
Jonny Clayton had a great tournament but only moved up a single place to 6th.
Had he won however, the extra £50k would have moved him to 4th in the OoM so it’s a big opportunity lost for The Ferret but there’s no doubt he looks back to form and will be dangerous this year.
If you missed the tournament, check out the final highlights provided by the PDC below:
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