UK Open
The FA Cup of Darts. A 160-player open-draw major with a random draw run after every round, meaning the World Champion can face a Q-School qualifier in round one or the final. Played across a long weekend at Butlin's Minehead in March.
The open draw
The UK Open's signature feature is its random draw, run live between rounds during the broadcast. Seeded byes exist for top-ranked players at the start, but once the top players enter, every subsequent round is re-drawn. A round-four match could be Van Gerwen versus Humphries, or Van Gerwen versus a Rileys winner who has never been on television before.
The format is the reason the event is compared to the FA Cup. It consistently produces giant-killings: amateur players reaching televised last-16 stages, Challenge Tour qualifiers knocking out top-16 names, and a unique blend of nerves and elite play across the whole weekend.
- Field
- 160 players. PDC Pro Tour Card holders, Q-School graduates, Challenge Tour qualifiers, and a route via Rileys pub qualifiers that can put an amateur on TV.
- Rounds
- R1, R2, R3: best of 11 legs. R4: best of 11. R5 / R6: best of 19. QF: best of 19. SF: best of 21. Final: best of 21 legs.
- Re-draw
- Conducted live after each full round.
Recent champions
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Final score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Luke Littler | Gerwyn Price | 11-4 |
| 2025 | Luke Littler | James Wade | 11-2 |
| 2024 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | Luke Humphries | 11-10 |
| 2023 | Andrew Gilding | Michael van Gerwen | 11-10 |
| 2022 | Danny Noppert | Michael van Gerwen | 11-9 |
| 2021 | James Wade | Luke Humphries | 11-5 |
| 2020 | Michael van Gerwen | Gerwyn Price | 11-9 |
| 2019 | Nathan Aspinall | Rob Cross | 11-5 |
| 2018 | Gary Anderson | Corey Cadby | 11-4 |
| 2017 | Peter Wright | Gerwyn Price | 11-6 |
| 2016 | Michael van Gerwen | James Wade | 11-4 |
Why it matters
The UK Open is the PDC major most open to left-field winners. Andrew Gilding (2023, ranked outside the top 30) and Danny Noppert (2022) are recent examples of players who would not have reached the final in a seeded knockout but flourished under the random-draw format. The Butlin's atmosphere - 4,000+ fans drinking, in swimwear and fancy dress - is distinctive even by darts standards.