Luke Humphries
Humphries in April 2023
Personal information
Nickname	"Cool Hand Luke"
Born	(1995-02-11) 11 February 1995 (age 28) Newbury, Berkshire, England
Home town	Crewe, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since	2010
Darts	22g Red Dragon
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC	2011– (Tour Card: 2018–)
Current world ranking	1 2 (3 January 2024)[1]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner (1): 2024
World Matchplay	Semi Final: 2023
World Grand Prix	Winner (1): 2023
UK Open	Runner Up: 2021
Grand Slam	Winner (1): 2023
European Ch'ship	Quarter Final: 2022, 2023
Premier League	Challenger: 2019, 2020
PC Finals	Winner (1): 2023
Masters	Last 16: 2022
World Series Finals	Semi Final: 2023
Other tournament wins
PDC Challenge Tour 2017 PDC Development Tour 2017 (x5), 2018 (x3), 2019 (x3) PDC Home Tour 2 2020 PDC World Youth Ch'ship 2019 European Tour Events Czech Darts Open 2022 European Darts Grand Prix 2022 European Darts Matchplay 2022, 2023 German Darts Grand Prix 2022 Players Championships Players Championship (BAR) 2022 (x2), 2023 Players Championship (LEI) 2023

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 World Champion. Nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, he is the reigning World Grand Prix champion, Grand Slam of Darts champion, and Players Championship Finals champion. He also won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.

Early life

Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Newbury, Berkshire.^[2] He grew up in Crewe, Cheshire. His father, a Leeds United FC fan, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". Humphries himself also became a fan of the team.^[3] He previously worked as a roofer and retired in 2018 to pursue darts full-time.^[4]

Career

Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 2017, finishing top of the Development Tour Order of Merit.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

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,^[8] Michael Smith, Wesley Plaisier and Michael van Gerwen.^[9] 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.^[10] The £120,000 prize money earned through this victory, saw him move into a career-high fourth in the Order of Merit.^[11] 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.^[12] Humphries won his third televised title at the 2023 Players Championship Finals, defeating Michael van Gerwen (who hit a 9 dart finish) for the first time in his career, 11–9 (van Gerwen also missed 8 darts at doubles in the 19th leg, to set up a deciding leg), before Humphries won the match on double 1.^[13]

2024

On 3 January, Humphries won the PDC World Darts Championship 7–4 against fellow Cheshire talent Luke Littler in the final.^[14]

Personal life

Humphries and his girlfriend, Kayley, had a son together in October 2022.^[15]

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)

Performance timeline

PDC

PDC European Tour

PDC career finals

PDC major finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score[N 1]
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)