Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is the current World No. 1 and reigning World Champion. Nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, he is also the reigning World Grand Prix champion, Grand Slam champion, Players Championship Finals champion, and the World Matchplay Champion. He also won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.
Early life
Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Newbury, Berkshire and grew up there, later moving to Crewe, Cheshire.
His father, a Leeds United FC fan, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". Humphries is also fan of the team. He is of Irish descent through his maternal grandfather.
Humphries started playing darts in his teens, playing for Berkshire county darts, then moving onto Wiltshire county darts before leaving to join the PDC.
He previously worked as a roofer, retiring in 2018 to pursue darts full-time.
Career
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 where he lost to Jeff Smith, and received a PDC Tour Card for the 2018 and 2019 season.
2019
Humphries won the Development Tour Order of Merit in 2019, a year which culminated in a fantastic run at the 2019 World Championship for Humphries. He beat Adam Hunt, Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and defending champion Rob Cross, before eventually losing 1–5 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.
At the age of 24 Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he beat Adam Gawlas 6–0.
2020
In the 2020 World Championship, Humphries once again reached the quarter-finals before losing 3–5 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.
2021
In the 2021 World Championship, Humphries suffered a shock 2–3 first-round defeat to veteran Paul Lim. Luke Humphries 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-final and then-reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final. He was defeated 5–11 by James Wade in the final.
2022
In the 2022 World Championship, Humphries reached his third quarter-final in four years before losing 2–5 to Gary Anderson. Humphries reached his first PDC European Tour final at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix by beating Jeffrey de Zwaan, Michael Smith, Wesley Plaisier and Michael van Gerwen. He beat Martin Lukeman in the final, hitting double 4 to win 8–2.
2023
In the 2023 World Championship, Humphries reached the fourth round before losing 1–4 to Stephen Bunting. In October 2023, 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 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, averaging an impressive 104.69. Humphries won his third televised title at the 2023 Players Championship Finals, defeating Michael van Gerwen (who hit a nine-dart finish) 11–9 (Van Gerwen also missed eight darts at doubles in the 19th leg, to set up a deciding leg), before Humphries won the match on double 1.
2024
On 3 January, Humphries won the PDC World Darts Championship, defeating fellow Cheshire talent Luke Littler 7–4 in the final. For that, he was invited to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.
In March 2024, 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.
Humphries partnered with Michael Smith to win the 2024 PDC World Cup of Darts for England, defeating Austria 10-6 in the final on 30 June.
Premier League Darts
Nights 1–5: Starting off in the bottom-half of the table
Humphries started his 2024 Premier League Darts campaign at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales. He went on to lose his debut match to Luke Littler 6–2 in legs. After the match, Humphries wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he felt "gutted" with the constant whistling and heckling at him during the match.
Humphries started night two at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin by winning his quarter-final match against Rob Cross 6–5. However, he then suffered another loss to Littler, losing 6–5 in the semi-finals. On night three at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Humphries beat Nathan Aspinall 6–3 with a 105.53 average in the quarter-finals, and defeated Gerwyn Price 6–3 in his semi-final match. Humphries lost to Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the night’s final. On night four at the Newcastle Arena, Humphries lost 6–5 in the quarter-finals to Rob Cross.
Just before the 2024 UK Open weekend, Humphries played at Premier League event five at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter. In the quarter-finals he defeated Michael van Gerwen 6–3, before losing 5–6 to Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals.
Nights 6–8: Three consecutive night wins
Luke Humphries won his first Premier League night at Brighton Centre on night six. Humphries achieved a three-dart average of over 100 in all three of his wins on the night, with a 6–2 victory over Gerwyn Price, followed by a 6–3 win over Rob Cross, where Humphries averaged 113.71, and a 6–3 defeat of Michael Smith in the final. Humphries won a second consecutive night on night seven, at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. Humphries recorded his fifth and sixth consecutive ton+ (100+) Premier League averages in wins over Michael Smith, 6–4, and Peter Wright, 6–1, before beating Nathan Aspinall 6–3 in the final. Humphries equalled the record for most consecutive nightly wins in the Premier League, making it three in a row on night eight at the 3Arena in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Humphries continued to record averages over 100, doing it in all 3 of his wins en route to victory in the night's final. Humphries was the number one seed as the league leader so was up against number 8 seed Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, he defeated Wright 6–1. In the semi-finals Humphries faced Nathan Aspinall, winning 6–4, and in the final Humphries achieved another triumph over Michael Smith, 6–2.
Nights 9–16: Making three semi-finals, victory in Leeds
Night nine at the SSE Arena, Belfast saw Humphries' winning streak come to an end, losing to Luke Littler 6–5 in a deciding leg. On night ten at the Manchester Arena, Humphries lost in the quarter-finals for a second consecutive week, with Michael Smith beating him 6–3. On night eleven at Arena Birmingham and night twelve at Rotterdam Ahoy, Humphries made the semi-finals, with a 6–4 over Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen in the respective quarter-finals being followed by another deciding leg loss to Luke Littler on night eleven and a 6–4 loss to Nathan Aspinall on night twelve in the respective semi-finals.
Night thirteen at the Liverpool Arena saw Humphries again defeated by Nathan Aspinall, losing 6–2 in their quarter-final match. On night fourteen at P&J Live, Aberdeen, Humphries was given a bye due to his quarter-final opponent Gerwyn Price withdrawing from the night. Humphries lost 6–5 to Rob Cross in the semi-final. Having previously announced that he would be changing his walk-on song from "Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE from night fifteen onwards, Humphries premiered his new walk-on song "I Predict a Riot" by the Kaiser Chiefs on Night 15 at the Leeds Arena. Humphries defeated Rob Cross and Michael Smith each by a 6–1 margin, before beating Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the final to win the night. Humphries announced he would raffle off his match-worn shirt from night fifteen and donate the proceeds to the Rob Burrow Foundation, a charity for motor neurone disease. Night sixteen at the Utilita Sheffield Arena saw Humphries win 6–4 over Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final. He defeated Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final and lost 3–6 to Michael Smith in the final.
Play Offs: Premier League final in his debut year
After sixteen nights, Luke Humphries finished second in the Premier League table behind Luke Littler. This drew Humphries against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final of the playoffs, held in The O2 Arena, London. Luke won the semi-final 10–5 to advance to the final against Luke Littler. Humphries lost 7–11 to Littler.
Personal life
During a 2019 PDC tournament Humphries suffered an anxiety attack. He considered quitting the sport as a result.
Humphries and his fiancée, Kayley, live in Crewe and had a son together in October 2022. On 30 May 2024, whilst in New York for the 2024 US Darts Masters, the couple became engaged, with Humphries proposing to her on the top floor of The Edge.
World Championship results
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)
PDC career finals
PDC major finals: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-up)
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–0) |
| World Matchplay (1–0) |
| UK Open (0–2) |
| Premier League (0–1) |
| World Grand Prix (1–0) |
| Grand Slam of Darts (1–0) |
| Players Championship Finals (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2021 | UK Open | James Wade | 5–11 (l) |
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | World Grand Prix | Gerwyn Price | 5–2 (s) |
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | Grand Slam of Darts | Rob Cross | 16–8 (l) |
| Winner | 3. | 2023 | Players Championship Finals | Michael van Gerwen | 11–9 (l) |
| Winner | 4. | 2024 | World Darts Championship | Luke Littler | 7–4 (s) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2024 | UK Open (2) | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 10–11 (l) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2024 | Premier League Darts | Luke Littler | 7–11 (l) |
| Winner | 5. | 2024 | World Matchplay | Michael van Gerwen | 18–15 (l) |
PDC team finals: 1 (1 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team | Teammate | Opponents in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2024 | World Cup of Darts | England | Michael Smith |  Austria – Mensur Suljović and Rowby-John Rodriguez | 10–6 (l) |
Performance timeline
PDC
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | PR | QF | QF | 1R | QF | 4R | W | ||||||||||||
| UK Open | DNQ | 3R | 3R | 4R | F | 4R | 6R | F | ||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 2R | 1R | SF | W | |||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | 2R | 1R | W | ||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 2R | QF | QF | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | RR | RR | SF | W | |||||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | W | ||||||||||||||
| Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | DNQ | 2R | 2R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||
| Premier League Darts | DNP | C | C | DNP | F | |||||||||||||||
| World Cup of Darts | DNQ | W | ||||||||||||||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | DNQ | SF | ||||||||||||||||||
| PDC World Youth Championship | 2R | SF | 2R | W | DNP | |||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | NR | NR | 57 | 35 | 42 | 19 | 5 | 1 | ||||||||||||
PDC Premier League Darts
| Contender | Week 4 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | EXE D |
| Contender | Week 5 |
| 2020 | EXE W |
| Legend: | W | Win | D | Draw |
|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CAR QF | BER SF | GLA F | NEW QF | EXE SF | BRI W | NOT W | DUB W | BEL QF | MAN QF | BIR SF | ROT SF | LIV QF | ABD SF | LEE W | SHF F | LON F |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | EDO 1R | GDG 3R | GDO 2R | ADO 2R | EDG DNQ | DDM DNQ | GDT DNQ | DDO DNQ | EDM 2R | GDC DNQ | DDC DNQ | IDO DNQ | EDT 2R |
| 2019 | EDO DNQ | GDC 2R | GDG DNQ | GDO 2R | ADO DNQ | EDG DNQ | DDM DNQ | DDO DNQ | CDO DNQ | ADC 2R | EDM DNQ | IDO DNQ | GDT DNQ |
| 2020 | BDC 1R | GDC DNQ | EDG DNQ | IDO DNQ | |||||||||
| 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 | FDT | HDT | SDT | CDO |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
References
External links
- Media related to Luke Humphries at Wikimedia Commons
- Luke Humphries player profile at Darts Orakel