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 number three; he was ranked world number one from 3 January 2024 to 16 November 2025. Nicknamed "Cool Hand", he won the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship. He has won nine PDC major singles titles—ranked fifth all-time—and a total of 30 PDC titles.
Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Reading, Berkshire. He grew up in Newbury. 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.
Career
2017–2018
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.
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 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.
At 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 October, Humphries won his first major title at the World Grand Prix. He overcame a 2–0 deficit to beat Peter Wright 3–2 in the second round after Wright missed match darts, before defeating tournament favourite Gerwyn Price 5–2 in the final. The £120,000 prize money earned through this victory saw him move into fourth in the PDC Order of Merit. He won his second major televised title 42 days later at the Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Rob Cross 16–8 in the final. Humphries added a third title at the Players Championship Finals. He came back from 9–5 down to defeat Michael van Gerwen 11–9.
Humphries entered the 2024 World Championship with many considering him the favourite to win the tournament. He reached the final by beating Scott Williams 6–0 in the semi-finals, having survived a sudden-death leg against Joe Cullen in the fourth round. 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 MinisterRishi 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. After sixteen nights, Humphries finished second in the Premier League table behind Luke 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 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 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.
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 a 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 a 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 won his first title of 2026 at Players Championship 4, defeating Wessel Nijman 8–6 in the final. At the Belgian Darts Open, he won his ninth European Tour title with an 8–6 win over Jonny Clayton. He added a third title at Players Championship 17 by beating Jermaine Wattimena 8–4. Humphries achieved his sole Premier League nightly win on night 15 in Birmingham, earning victories over Stephen Bunting, Luke Littler, and Gerwyn Price. This secured his place in the Premier League play-offs; he finished the league stage in third place with 27 points. On Finals Night on 28 May, he defeated Clayton 10–9 after Clayton missed a dart to win the match. He contested a third consecutive Premier League final against Littler, to whom he lost 11–10.
At the World Cup of Darts, Humphries represented England alongside Luke Littler for the second consecutive year, with the pair defeating the Netherlands 10–5 in the final to win Humphries's second World Cup title and England's record-extending sixth title overall. He beat Brendan Dolan 8–6 to win Players Championship 28 in August. He won his second World Grand Prix title in October, beating Gerwyn Price in the final.
Humphries previously worked six years as a roofer in Newbury, retiring in 2018 to pursue darts full-time. 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.
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