Peter Wright becomes new world number one; Michael van Gerwen slips to fifth

Peter Wright has moved to world number one on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career following the conclusion of the 2022 UK Open.

The reigning world champion succumbed to William O’Connor in the last 16 at Minehead, yet with Gerwyn Price defending £40,000 in prize money at this year’s showpiece, the Welshman needed to reach the final to preserve his world No 1 status.

Price succumbed to eventual finalist Michael Smith in a thrilling quarter-final clash, which ended The Iceman’s 14-month reign at the summit, enabling Wright to become the 11th world No 1 in PDC history.

‘Snakebite’ is the first Scotsman to achieve that particular accolade, and he emulates Alan Warriner-Little, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Phil Taylor, Peter Manley, John Part, Colin Lloyd, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen and Price in ruling the darting world.

World Championship runner-up Smith was left heartbroken after losing a seventh individual televised final, although ‘Bully Boy’ moves up to fourth on the Order of Merit, leapfrogging Van Gerwen who has dropped to fifth – his lowest ranking since January 2013.

Danny Noppert’s first televised ranking title moves him up to a career-high of 12th. ‘The Freeze’ became the fourth Dutchman to lift the UK Open title following his 11-10 success against Smith, and the £100,000 winner’s prize has catapulted him seven places from 19th.

It was also a groundbreaking weekend for Damon Heta, who is now the top-ranked Australian on the tour – moving ahead of Simon Whitlock into 23rd place. ‘The Heat’ defeated Van Gerwen and Jonny Clayton to reach the quarter-finals, before exiting at the hands of eventual champion Noppert.

Elsewhere, Ireland’s teenage sensation Keane Barry has moved up 14 places to a career-high 54th, after scooping £20,000 courtesy of his run to the semi-finals. ‘Dynamite’ dumped out defending champion James Wade in the last eight and raced into a 6-2 lead against Smith, only for ‘Bully Boy’ to rally superbly.

Barry was joined in the last four by his compatriot O’Connor, who recorded victories over Stephen Bunting and Wright to feature in his first televised semi-final, and his exploits at Minehead have taken him to the cusp of a place in the world’s top 32.

Image Credit: Steven Paston/PDC

Position	Name	Total Prize Money
1	Peter Wright	£1,190,250
2	Gerwyn Price	£1,169,000
3	James Wade	£571,000
4	Michael Smith	£569,750
5	Michael van Gerwen	£550,250
6	Gary Anderson	£472,500
7	Jose de Sousa	£435,500
8	Jonny Clayton	£411,750
9	Dimitri Van den Bergh	£411,250
10	Rob Cross	£347,000
11	Joe Cullen	£336,500
12	Danny Noppert	£325,500
13	Krzysztof Ratajski	£297,000
14	Dave Chisnall	£294,250
15	Dirk van Duijvenbode	£268,250
16	Ryan Searle	£262,750
17	Nathan Aspinall	£260,500
18	Mervyn King	£238,250
19	Luke Humphries	£238,000
20	Stephen Bunting	£220,750
21	Gabriel Clemens	£206,750
22	Daryl Gurney	£204,500
23	Damon Heta	£202,000
24	Simon Whitlock	£199,250
25	Brendan Dolan	£198,500
26	Devon Petersen	£194,000
27	Ian White	£190,500
28	Mensur Suljovic	£185,750
29	Callan Rydz	£182,250
30	Vincent van der Voort	£180,000
31	Glen Durrant	£160,500
32	Chris Dobey	£150,250
33	Ross Smith	£140,250
34	William O’Connor	£127,500
35	Ryan Joyce	£126,750
36	Kim Huybrechts	£126,500
37	Jermaine Wattimena	£115,750
38	Ricky Evans	£106,000
39	Martijn Kleermaker	£101,500
40	Adrian Lewis	£100,000
41	Jamie Hughes	£96,250
42	Adam Hunt	£86,000
43	Darius Labanauskas	£84,500
44	Steve Lennon	£80,250
45	Jason Lowe	£78,000
46	Madars Razma	£75,250
47	Jeffrey de Zwaan	£75,250
48	Luke Woodhouse	£73,000
49	Alan Soutar	£71,500
50	Maik Kuivenhoven	£68,250
51	Ron Meulenkamp	£68,000
52	Keane Barry	£67,250
53	Boris Krcmar	£62,000
54	Steve Beaton	£61,750
55	Ryan Meikle	£58,000
56	Raymond van Barneveld	£58,000
57	Andy Boulton	£57,500
58	William Borland	£56,250
59	Jeff Smith	£55,500
60	Steve West	£54,250
61	Keegan Brown	£54,000
62	Florian Hempel	£53,500
63	Martin Schindler	£53,000
64	Ritchie Edhouse	£52,000