It hasn’t been the best month for darts ace Luke Humphries.
Dumped out of the World Championship in the fourth round and without a tournament win across the first two World Series events of 2025, the former world champion certainly has plenty of room for improvement.
He’ll be hoping to make a statement at the World Masters in Milton Keynes, but the 29-year-old will also have an added incentive when he takes to the oche this weekend.
That’s because, for the first time ever, prize money won at the Masters will count towards the PDC Order of Merit – the two-year rolling system used to determine the sport’s world rankings.
Humphries currently sits top of the pile as the world No1. but fresh off the back of his bumper £500,000 haul at the World Darts Championship earlier this month, Luke Littler is closing in on Cool Hand.
Just over £650,000 separates the previous two world champions in first and second and given this is the first time the Masters prize money will count towards the standings, it means Humphries isn’t entering the tournament with any cash to defend.
More importantly, for the first time since Littler burst onto the scene, Humphries will start a ranking event on a level footing with the teenage star when it comes to defending prize money.
Of course, Humphries will have to either match or outdo Littler’s Masters performance for it to make a difference and given his form during and after the World Championship, there’s no guarantee he’ll muster up a deep run to the latter stages.
However, it’s a welcome boost for Humphries, especially because he’ll have to defend prize money from three tournament victories in the second half of 2025.
During the 2023 season, Humphries won the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship – prize money that will be lost from his Order of Merit should he fail to win the titles again.
By contrast, victory in Milton Keynes this weekend would give Humphries – or whoever else takes the title – a fresh £100,000 boost on their world ranking.
Overall, a purse of £500,000 is on offer to the competing players, with the runner-up pocketing a healthy £50,000.
Both semi-final losers each get £30,000, while the four defeated quarter-finalists will be banking £17,000 in prize money.
The main draw action from the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes gets underway on Thursday evening.
