Luke Littler wins 2026 UK Open, joins illustrious PDC list with Minehead triumph

Luke Littler has added yet another PDC major title to his collection by beating James Wade in the UK Open final.

After an indifferent start to the 2026 Premier League campaign, there were question marks as to whether the world number one was suitably prepared for a prolonged effort in Minehead.

However, the 19-year-old completed one of the toughest routes to victory that the UK Open has ever seen with an 11-7 win over Wade.

Littler had overcome Damon Heta, Kevin Doets, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert and Josh Rock before prevailing past the three-time winner of the event.

Although Wade recovered from losing the first three legs of the final to make it 3-3, he was playing nowhere near the level of the defending champion.

Lightning struck twice as Wade reeled off three successive legs to make it 6-6, but Littler won five of the last six legs in 14, 15 or 16 darts to become just the fourth player - along with Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen - to win back-to-back UK Open titles.

LITTLER GOES BACK-TO-BACK! ☢️?

Luke Littler retains the Ladbrokes UK Open title!

The world number one defeats James Wade for a second straight year to triumph in Minehead!

Live Scores & Streaming ? https://t.co/gFQK4rQ2wU#UKOpenDarts | Final pic.twitter.com/xEqJzHpMjQ

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 8, 2026

Despite falling short, Wade can be encouraged by his run to the final, the left-hander having defeated Chris Dobey, Gabriel Clemens, Van Gerwen, Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price - all players who have reached World Championship semi-finals or better - to set up the showpiece with Littler.

How does PDC Order of Merit look after UK Open?

While Littler now holds a mammoth £1,754,500 advantage at the top of the PDC Order of Merit, Wade has advanced into sixth place in the world rankings.

Semi-final appearances for Rock and Price has moved the pair ahead of Anderson and into eighth and ninth position respectively.

A wide array of players have moved at least one place up the standings courtesy of 2024 champion Dimitri van den Bergh losing his ranking money from that year and dropping 11 spots to 37th position.