Luke Humphries

 ( 1995 Births ) 

Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number one. Nicknamed " Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, he is a former PDC World Champion, having won the 2024 World Championship. He is the reigning Premier League, Players Championship Finals and World Masters champion. He also won the World Matchplay in 2024.

In his youth career, Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship and eleven PDC Development Tours, making him one of the most successful players in the history of the PDC's youth system. A back-to-back PDC World Championship quarter-finalist in 2019 and 2020, he won four European Tour titles on the 2022 PDC Pro Tour before winning his first major title at the 2023 World Grand Prix. He won his first world title at the 2024 World Championship, defeating Luke Littler 7–4 in the final. Humphries has won eight PDC major singles titles, placing him joint-fourth in the all-time list. He also won the 2024 World Cup of Darts for England, partnering Michael Smith. Humphries has won a total of 24 PDC titles in his professional career, including eight European Tour titles.

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Early life Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Reading and grew up in West Berkshire, later moving to Crewe in Cheshire. He is of Irish descent through his maternal grandfather. His father, a fan of football club Leeds United, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". His father also played county darts for Berkshire, which prompted a young Humphries to want to follow in his footsteps.

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Career

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2017–2018 Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 2017, finishing top of the Development Tour Order of Merit. As a result of this, he qualified for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship and received a PDC Tour Card for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He also won a PDC Challenge Tour title in Event 12, defeating Andy Smith 5–4 in the final. At the 2018 World Championship, he lost 2–0 to Jeff Smith in the preliminary round. He added another three titles to his name during the 2018 Development Tour, topping the Order of Merit once again.

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2019: World Youth champion At the 2019 World Championship, Humphries had his breakthrough event on television, beating Adam Hunt, Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and defending champion Rob Cross, before eventually losing to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.

Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Humphries was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He played a one-off match against Gerwyn Price on night four in Exeter, which ended in a 6–6 draw.

At the age of 24, Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he beat Adam Gawlas 6–0 in the final.

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2020–2021: First major final In the 2020 World Championship, Humphries once again reached the quarter-finals before losing 5–3 to eventual champion Peter Wright. Humphries was once again selected for the Premier League, this time under the tag of 'challenger'. He faced Gary Anderson in Exeter and became the first challenger to win their game. Humphries was the winner of PDC Home Tour 2 after winning five of his six Championship Group matches, beating Jonny Clayton based on leg difference.

In the 2021 World Championship, Humphries suffered a shock 3–2 first-round defeat to 66-year-old Paul Lim. He made his first major televised final at the 2021 UK Open in March 2021. His run to the final saw him claim wins over Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals and then-reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. He was defeated 11–5 by James Wade in the final.

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2022: European Tour wins In the 2022 World Championship, Humphries reached his third quarter-final in four years before losing 5–2 to Gary Anderson. He won his maiden PDC ranking title in the opening Players Championship event of the year, defeating Ryan Searle 8–4 in the final.

Humphries reached his first PDC European Tour final at the German Darts Grand Prix by beating Jeffrey de Zwaan, Michael Smith and Wesley Plaisier before a 7–0 whitewash against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. He beat Martin Lukeman 8–2 in the final. He then won back-to-back titles at the Czech Darts Open and the European Darts Grand Prix before adding an 8–7 win against Rowby-John Rodriguez in the final of the 2022 European Darts Matchplay, ending the year with four European Tour titles.

His year culminated with back-to-back major semi-finals at the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals, being eliminated by Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen respectively.

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2023: First major titles In the 2023 World Championship, Humphries reached the fourth round before losing 4–1 to Stephen Bunting. He won a European Tour title and two Players Championship titles on the 2023 PDC Pro Tour. Humphries retained the European Darts Matchplay, surviving four match darts from Dirk van Duijvenbode to prevail 8–7 in a deciding leg. Over a week later, he defeated Dave Chisnall 8–7 to win Players Championship 15. He then defeated Kevin Doets 8–6 in the final of Players Championship 20.

In October, Humphries won his first major title at the 2023 World Grand Prix, defeating tournament favourite Gerwyn Price 5–2 in the final. The £120,000 prize money earned through this victory saw him move into a career-high fourth in the PDC Order of Merit. He won his second major televised title 42 days later at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Rob Cross 16–8 in the final with a three-dart average of 104.69. Humphries won his third televised title at the 2023 Players Championship Finals. He came back from 9–5 down to defeat Michael van Gerwen 11–9 in a match where van Gerwen hit a nine-dart finish but missed eight darts at doubles in the 19th leg to set up a deciding leg, before Humphries won the match on double 1.

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2024: World champion Humphries entered the 2024 World Championship with many considering him the favourite to win the tournament. He won his opening match against Lee Evans 3–0. In the third round, he recovered from 3–1 down to beat Ricardo Pietreczko 4–3. He then got through a sudden death leg against Joe Cullen to advance to the quarter-finals. Humphries achieved wins against Dave Chisnall and Scott Williams to reach the final. On 3 January 2024, Humphries won the World Championship by winning five sets in a row to defeat 16-year-old Luke Littler 7–4 in the final, earning the £500,000 top prize and becoming the new world number one on the PDC Order of Merit. Following his victory, he was invited to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.

In March, Humphries reached the final of the UK Open for the second time. He missed two match darts to win the title in an 11–10 loss to Dimitri Van den Bergh. Competing in a full Premier League Darts season for the first time, he lost his debut match 6–2 to Luke Littler on night one in Cardiff. Humphries won his first Premier League night on night six with wins over Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Michael Smith. He achieved a streak of three consecutive nightly wins with further victories on nights seven and eight. He secured a fourth nightly win on night 15 in Leeds. He announced that he would raffle off his match-worn shirt from night 15 and donate the proceeds to the Rob Burrow Foundation, a charity for ALS. After sixteen nights, Humphries finished second in the Premier League table behind Littler. He was matched up against third-placed Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals of the play-offs. He won the semi-final 10–5 to advance to the final, which he lost 11–7 to Littler.

Humphries won his first European Tour title of the season at the German Darts Grand Prix, winning 8–1 against Michael van Gerwen in the final with an average of 112.66—the second highest average in a European Tour final. He represented England for the first time in the World Cup of Darts in June, partnering Michael Smith. The pair became the first English team to win the tournament since 2016, defeating Austria 10–6 in the final. In July, he won the World Matchplay, beating Michael van Gerwen 18–15 in the final. This made him the fourth player after Phil Taylor, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright to win the World Championship and the World Matchplay within the same year. In August, Humphries won his first World Series of Darts title, defeating Damon Heta 8–2 to win the New Zealand Darts Masters.

In October, Humphries started his defence of the World Grand Prix after his victory over Gerwyn Price in the 2023 final. After an impressive comeback from 1–0 down in sets and 2–0 down in legs in the second set against Stephen Bunting in the first round, he was able to reach the final for a second consecutive year. However, he lost 6–4 to outsider Mike De Decker. Humphries added two more Pro Tour titles during the month, with an 8–7 win over Bunting in the final at Players Championship 26 and an 8–1 win over Kim Huybrechts in the final of the Czech Darts Open. In November, following elimination in the group stage of the Grand Slam, Humphries retained the Players Championship Finals, defeating Luke Littler 11–7 in the final.

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2025: Premier League champion At the 2025 World Championship, Humphries began his title defence with a 3–0 whitewash win over Thibault Tricole, followed by a 4–0 victory against Nick Kenny, setting up a fourth round tie against Peter Wright. In the lead-up to the match, much attention was brought to what Humphries and Wright had to say about each other in their respective post-match interviews. Wright stated that he was ready to upset tournament favourites Humphries and Luke Littler, claiming that he could compete with and be better than them despite calls for him to retire. Humphries responded after his win against Nick Kenny, accusing Wright of "mind games" and adding that he was "one world title away from almost matching his career". In their match, Humphries levelled the contest at 1–1 before dropping the next three sets to lose to Wright 4–1, ending his tenure as world champion.

In February, he won the PDC World Masters, defeating Jonny Clayton 6–5 to win his seventh major title. He followed that up by winning the opening night of the 2025 Premier League with a 6–1 victory over Chris Dobey in the night's final. He secured his second nightly win on night four by claiming his first Premier League victory over Luke Littler, defeating him 6–4 in their seventh meeting. He achieved his first televised nine-dart finish in his 6–4 loss to Rob Cross on night five. After a third nightly win in Leeds on night 14, he ended the league stage on 34 points, finishing second in the table and qualifying for the play-offs. On Finals Night on 29 May, he defeated Nathan Aspinall 10–7 in the semi-finals to set up a tie with Luke Littler in the final – a rematch of the previous year's final. Humphries avenged his 2024 loss by beating Littler 11–8 to win his first Premier League title. This made him the fourth player to win the PDC Triple Crown (Premier League, World Championship and World Matchplay) after Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. He was partnered by Littler for the first time at the World Cup of Darts and the England duo were considered favourites to win the title, but they were defeated 8–4 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko of Germany in the second round.

Humphries won his second World Series title at the US Darts Masters, defeating Nathan Aspinall 8–6 in the final. In his defence of the World Matchplay, he lost 10–8 to Gian van Veen in the first round. He won the Czech Darts Open for the third time by beating Josh Rock 8–5.

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Personal life Like his father, Humphries is a fan of football club Leeds United. He paraded his World Championship trophy at Elland Road during half-time of the club's match against Preston North End in January 2024. He uses Kaiser Chiefs's "I Predict a Riot" as his walk-on song due to the song's connection to Leeds United, having previously used "Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE.

During a match at the 2019 German Darts Open, Humphries suffered an anxiety attack. He considered quitting the sport as a result. He began a weight loss journey in 2021 in order to improve his fitness and stamina, which led to him losing four stone (56 pounds). He attributes his success in darts to his loss in weight, claiming that it has made him a stronger person and that he no longer runs out of energy during longer days of play.

Humphries lives in Crewe with his fiancée Kayley, his stepdaughter and son; their son was born in October 2022. On 30 May 2024, whilst in New York for the 2024 US Darts Masters, Humphries proposed to his partner on the top floor of The Edge.

Humphries previously worked as a roofer, retiring in 2018 to pursue darts full-time. In June 2025, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to darts.

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World Championship results

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PDC

• 2018: Preliminary round (lost to Jeff Smith 0–2)
• 2019: Quarter-finals (lost to Michael Smith 1–5)
• 2020: Quarter-finals (lost to Peter Wright 3–5)
• 2021: First round (lost to Paul Lim 2–3)
• 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to Gary Anderson 2–5)
• 2023: Fourth round (lost to Stephen Bunting 1–4)
• 2024: Winner (beat Luke Littler 7–4)
• 2025: Fourth round (lost to Peter Wright 1–4)

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Career finals

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PDC major finals: 13 (8 titles)

World Championship (1–0)

World Matchplay (1–0)

UK Open (0–2)

Premier League (1–1)

World Grand Prix (1–2)

Grand Slam (1–0)

Players Championship Finals (2–0)

World Masters (1–0)

Runner-up	1.	2021	UK Open		5–11 (l)
Winner	1.	2023	World Grand Prix (1)		5–2 (s)
Winner	2.	2023	Grand Slam (1)		16–8 (l)
Winner	3.	2023			11–9 (l)
Winner	4.	2024	World Championship (1)	Luke Littler	7–4 (s)
Runner-up	2.	2024	UK Open		10–11 (l)
Runner-up	3.	2024	Premier League	Luke Littler	7–11 (l)
Winner	5.	2024	World Matchplay (1)	Michael van Gerwen	18–15 (l)
Runner-up	4.	2024	World Grand Prix	Mike De Decker	4–6 (s)
Winner	6.	2024			11–7 (l)
Winner	7.	2025	World Masters (1)	Jonny Clayton	6–5 (s)
Winner	8.	2025	Premier League	Luke Littler	11–8 (l)
Runner-up	5.	2025	World Grand Prix	Luke Littler	1–6 (s)

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PDC World Series finals: 3 (2 titles)

Winner	1.	2024	New Zealand Darts Masters	Damon Heta	8–2 (l)
Winner	2.	2025	US Darts Masters	Nathan Aspinall	8–6 (l)
Runner-up	1.	2025	New Zealand Darts Masters	Luke Littler	4–8 (l)

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PDC team finals: 1 (1 title)

	1.	2024					10–6 (l)

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Performance timeline PDC

PDC Ranked televised events

World Championship

DNQ

Prel.

QF

QF

1R

QF

4R

4R

World MastersBefore 2025 this was a non-ranked event.

DNQ

2R

2R

2R

UK Open

DNQ

3R

3R

4R

F

4R

6R

F

QF

World Matchplay

DNQ

2R

1R

SF

1R

World Grand Prix

DNQ

2R

1R

W

F

F

European Championship

DNQ

2R

QF

QF

QF

Grand Slam

DNQ

RR

RR

SF

W

RR

DNQ

1R

3R

3R

SF

W

W

PDC Non-ranked televised events

Premier League

DNP

DNP

World Cup

DNQ

W

2R

World Series Finals

DNQ

SF

QF

QF

2R

SF

2R

W

DNP

Career statistics

Season-end ranking

NR

35

19

5

1

1

PDC Premier League Darts

2019	EXE D
2020	W

2024

QF

SF

F

QF

SF

W

W

W

QF

QF

SF

SF

QF

SF

W

F

F

2025

W

F

SF

W

QF

QF

QF

F

SF

F

QF

F

QF

W

QF

F

W

PDC European Tour

2018

EDO 1R

GDG 3R

GDO 2R

ADO 2R

Did not qualify

EDM 2R

Did not qualify

EDT 2R

2019

EDO DNQ

GDC 2R

GDG DNQ

GDO 2R

Did not qualify

ADC 2R

Did not qualify

2020

BDC 1R

Did not qualify

2021

HDT SF

GDT 1R

2022

IDO DNQ

GDC 2R

GDG W

ADO 2R

EDO SF

CDO W

EDG W

DDC WD

EDM W

HDT 2R

GDO QF

BDO WD

GDT QF

2023

BSD F

EDO WD

IDO WD

GDG QF

ADO 2R

DDC F

BDO F

CDO QF

EDG F

EDM W

GDO 3R

HDT F

GDC SF

2024

BDO 3R

GDG W

IDO 3R

EDG QF

ADO WD

BSD F

DDC DNP

EDO 2R

GDC DNP

FDT SF

HDT 2R

SDT QF

CDO W

2025

BDO 2R

EDT QF

IDO SF

GDG WD

ADO DNP

EDG 3R

DDC SF

EDO WD

BSD QF

FDT WD

CDO W

HDT QF

SDT 3R

GDC

PDC World Series of Darts

2023	BAH QF	NOR QF	USA SF	POL QF	NSW DNP	NZE DNP
2024	BAH QF	DUT QF	USA SF	NOR SF	POL QF	AUS QF	NZE W
2025	BAH SF	DUT 1R	NOR QF	USA W	POL DNP	AUS QF	NZE F

PDC Players Championships

2018

BAR 1R

BAR 3R

BAR 2R

BAR 1R

MIL 1R

MIL 1R

BAR 1R

BAR 3R

WIG 1R

WIG 1R

MIL 1R

MIL 1R

WIG 2R

WIG 1R

BAR 1R

BAR 1R

BAR 1R

BAR 2R

DUB 1R

DUB 1R

BAR 2R

BAR SF

2019

WIG 2R

WIG 2R

WIG 1R

WIG 2R

BAR 1R

BAR 1R

WIG 2R

WIG 1R

BAR 2R

BAR 2R

BAR 3R

BAR 2R

BAR 2R

BAR 1R

BAR DNP

WIG QF

WIG 3R

BAR 2R

BAR 3R

HIL 4R

HIL 2R

BAR 4R

BAR 1R

BAR 4R

BAR DNP

DUB 2R

DUB 3R

BAR 3R

BAR 2R

2020

BAR 1R

BAR 1R

WIG 1R

WIG 3R

WIG 3R

WIG 2R

BAR 4R

BAR 3R

MIL 1R

MIL 2R

MIL 1R

MIL 2R

MIL DNP

NIE 2R

NIE 1R

NIE QF

NIE 3R

NIE 2R

COV 3R

COV 1R

COV 1R

COV 1R

COV 1R

2021

BOL 1R

BOL 1R

BOL 3R

BOL 2R

MIL 2R

MIL F

MIL 3R

MIL 3R

NIE F

NIE 2R

NIE 1R

NIE 3R

MIL 2R

MIL 3R

MIL 2R

MIL F

COV 2R

COV 2R

COV 4R

COV 1R

BAR 4R

BAR 1R

BAR QF

BAR 1R

BAR 3R

BAR 1R

BAR 2R

BAR 1R

BAR 2R

BAR 4R

2022

BAR W

BAR 4R

WIG 1R

WIG QF

BAR 4R

BAR 3R

NIE 4R

NIE SF

BAR 3R

BAR QF

BAR 2R

BAR 4R

BAR 2R

WIG 1R

WIG DNP

NIE QF

NIE 3R

BAR QF

BAR SF

BAR 4R

BAR 2R

BAR QF

BAR 1R

BAR F

BAR QF

BAR 2R

BAR 3R

BAR F

BAR 1R

BAR DNP

2023

BAR 4R

BAR SF

BAR 3R

BAR 1R

BAR 3R

BAR SF

HIL 4R

HIL 3R

WIG 3R

WIG 4R

LEI 3R

LEI 3R

HIL DNP

LEI W

LEI 1R

HIL DNP

BAR 1R

BAR W

BAR QF

BAR DNP

BAR F

BAR 1R

BAR DNP

BAR SF

BAR 3R

BAR DNP

2024

WIG 2R

WIG 1R

DNP

LEI 3R

LEI F

HIL DNP

MIL 4R

MIL 4R

MIL SF

MIL DNP

WIG QF

WIG 1R

LEI 3R

LEI 4R

WIG 4R

WIG 1R

WIG W

WIG 4R

WIG 2R

LEI DNP

2025

WIG SF

DNP

LEI 3R

LEI F

DNP

LEI 2R

LEI 3R

Did not participate

HIL 2R

HIL 1R

LEI 1R

LEI QF

LEI 3R

WIG

WIG

WIG

WIG

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Nine-dart finishes

+ Luke Humphries's televised nine-dart finishes ! Date ! Opponent ! Tournament ! Method !
6 March 2025		2025 Premier League Darts	3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

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External links

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