Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen, known as Mighty Mike, is a Dutch darts player and a three-time PDC world champion. Born in Boxtel on 25 April 1989 and based in Vlijmen, he was 13th on the PDC Order of Merit when the rankings were last published on 2 November 2026, with £585,000 in ranking prize money over the two-year period the list covers. The PDC credits him with 160 senior titles, a total it compiles across all of its senior competitions, and he was ranked world number one from 2014 to 2021.

His first PDC major title came at the 2012 World Grand Prix, where he beat Mervyn King 6-4 in sets in the final. He won the World Championship for the first time in 2014, beating Peter Wright 7-4 in sets, and added further world titles with 7-3 wins over Gary Anderson in 2017 and Michael Smith in 2019. He has won a record seven Premier League titles and holds the record for the highest three-dart average in a televised match, 123.4 against Michael Smith in the 2016 Premier League.

In 2026 he lost 4-1 in sets to Anderson in the fourth round of the World Championship, then won the Bahrain Darts Masters with an 8-6 win over Gian van Veen in the final. He beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-5 to win Players Championship 15 in May and beat Luke Humphries 8-7 in the final of the Nordic Darts Masters in June. His autumn has brought a run of defeats: 2-1 in sets to Ryan Joyce at the World Grand Prix, 6-4 to Mensur Suljovic at the Swiss Darts Trophy, 6-5 to William O'Connor at the Dutch Darts Championship and 6-3 to Kevin Doets in the first round of the European Championship. The PDC records 28 nine-dart finishes for him in its senior events and 30 across all of its events. He throws 22-gram Winmau darts and walks on to "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes.