Luke Humphries

Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world No. 2; he was ranked world No. 1 from 3 January 2024 to 16 November 2025. Nicknamed "Cool Hand" in the reference to the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, he won the PDC World Championship in 2024. He has won 8 PDC major titles—ranked joint fifth all-time—and a total of 25 PDC titles.

After winning the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship and eleven PDC Development Tour titles, Humphries reached his first PDC major final at the 2021 UK Open, and won four European Tour titles in 2022. In 2023, Humphries won three PDC major titles. He defeated Luke Littler to claim his maiden World Championship in 2024. That year, he won
two more PDC major titles, including the World Matchplay. He also won the 2024 World Cup of Darts for England, partnering Michael Smith. Humphries won two more PDC major titles in 2025, including the Premier League.

Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Reading, Berkshire. He grew up in Newbury, before moving to Crewe, Cheshire. His maternal grandfather was Irish. His father, a fan of football club Leeds United FC, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". His father also played county darts for Berkshire, inspiring a young Humphries to follow in his footsteps.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Humphries (left) playing darts with Rishi Sunak, then-UK Prime Minister

Humphries entered the 2024 World Championship with many considering him the favourite to win the tournament. Humphries reached the final by beating Scott Williams 6–0. 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, Humphries won his first Premier League night on night six. 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 motor neurone disease. 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 (right) with Michael Smith after their win in the 2024 PDC World Cup of Darts

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. 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.

Humphries on night nine of the 2025 Premier League

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. The pair exchanged words about each other in the lead-up to the match, leading Humphries to accuse Wright of "mind games". 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. On night five of the Premier League, he achieved his first televised nine-dart finish in his 6–4 loss to Rob Cross. After a third nightly win in Leeds on night 14, he ended the league stage of the Premier League 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 so-called PDC Triple Crown (Premier League, World Championship and World Matchplay) after Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.

Humphries won his second World Series title at the US Darts Masters, defeating Nathan Aspinall 8–6 in the final. He won the Czech Darts Open for the third time by beating Josh Rock 8–5. Humphries finished as runner-up at both the World Grand Prix and the European Championship; he was defeated 6–1 by Luke Littler in the World Grand Prix final, and missed a match dart to beat Gian van Veen in the European Championship, losing 11–10. After hitting his second televised nine-darter in his group stage win against Michael Smith, Humphries reached a third consecutive major final at the Grand Slam, where he was beaten 16–11 by Littler, who replaced Humphries as world number one in the process.

Humphries defeated Ted Evetts 3–1 in his opening match of the 2026 World Championship. He won 3–0 against Paul Lim in the second round, a rematch of their 2021 World Championship meeting. Following victories over Gabriel Clemens and Kevin Doets, Humphries was eliminated from the tournament in the quarter-finals, losing 5–1 to Gian van Veen. At the World Masters, he hit his third televised nine-dart finish against Luke Woodhouse in the second round. He reached the final of the tournament, where he took a 5–4 lead before losing 6–5 to Luke Littler.

Humphries won his first title of 2026 at Players Championship 4, defeating Wessel Nijman 8–6 in the final.

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' "I Predict a Riot" as his walk-on song due to the song's connection to Leeds United, having previously used DNCE's "Cake by the Ocean".

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 six years as a roofer in Newbury, 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.

• 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)
• 2026: Quarter-finals (lost to Gian van Veen 1–5)

PDC

PDC Premier League Darts

PDC European Tour

PDC World Series of Darts

PDC Players Championships

Key

The following is a list of titles won by Luke Humphries in his career.

Professional Darts Corporation

• Majors (8)

  • World Championship (1): 2024
  • World Matchplay (1): 2024
  • World Grand Prix (1): 2023
  • Grand Slam of Darts (1): 2023
  • Premier League Darts (1): 2025
  • Players Championship Finals (2): 2023, 2024
  • World Masters (1): 2025

• World Cup (1)

  • 2024

• World Series (2)

  • New Zealand Masters (1): 2024
  • U.S. Masters (1): 2025

• Pro Tour (14)

  • European Tour (9)
    • Belgian Open (1): 2026
    • Czech Open (3): 2022, 2024, 2025
    • European Grand Prix (1): 2022
    • European Matchplay (2): 2022, 2023
    • German Grand Prix (2): 2022, 2024
  • Players Championships (5)
    • 2022 (1): 1
    • 2023 (2): 15, 20
    • 2024 (1): 26
    • 2026 (1): 4

• Secondary Tours

  • Challenge Tour (1)
    • 2017 (1): 12
  • PDC Development Tour (11)
    • 2017 (5): 1, 4, 9, 16, 20
    • 2018 (3): 7, 3, 17
    • 2019 (3): 11, 17, 20

• World Youth Championship (1)

  • 2019

• Home Tour (1)

  • 2020 (1): 2

• @media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sister-inline-image img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{filter:invert(1)brightness(55%)contrast(250%)hue-rotate(180deg)}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sister-inline-image img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{filter:invert(1)brightness(55%)contrast(250%)hue-rotate(180deg)}} Media related to Luke Humphries at Wikimedia Commons
• Luke Humphries player profile at Darts Orakel