Sporting Life
Scroll down to watch who makes our top 10
Scroll down to watch who makes our top 10

Ranking all the darts major winners in history if they were all in their prime today; Will Phil Taylor or Michael van Gerwen take top spot?

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Tue September 24, 2024 · 2M ago

There have been well over 50 different winners of ranked majors in the world of darts since the sport's popularity exploded in the 1970s but if they were all in their absolute prime today, what would the world's top 10 look like?

This isn't just a list of who has won the most World Championship titles and other major crowns, but nor can we rank players who spanned different era purely on what averages and performance statistics they achieved.

For example, the playing conditions, equipment, board quality, wire thickness and professionalism - just to name five factors - have all changed dramatically since the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jockey Wilson were battling for honours so we must try and judge how well their natural ability and mental strength would have coped and adapted alongside modern-day greats.

It may well be an impossible question to compare eras and come up with a universally agreed list, while the decision on who should take number one spot out of Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen is also up for hot debate.

Our panel of Sky Sports darts presenter Abigail Davies, former major winner Paul Nicholson and Sporting Life writer Chris Hammer haven't considered Premier League champion Luke Littler for inclusion yet purely because this is still his debut season and he's yet to win one of the big ranked majors but where would you rank him now?

Watch our verdict unfold during this thought-provoking show while further down you'll find a list of the big major winners to help you come up with your own top 10.

WATCH: RANKING THE MAJOR WINNERS AT THEIR PEAK

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Who are the ranked major winners?

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (PDC)

  • 14 - Phil Taylor
  • 3 - Michael van Gerwen
  • 2 - Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, John Part, Peter Wright
  • 1 - Dennis Priestley, Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (BDO)

  • 5 - Eric Bristow
  • 4 - Raymond van Barneveld
  • 3 - John Lowe, Martin Adams, Glen Durrant
  • 2 - Scott Waites, Ted Hankey, Phil Taylor, Jocky Wilson
  • 1- Richie Burnett, Leighton Rees, Wayne Warren, Stephen Bunting, Scott Mitchell, Christian Kist, Mark Webster, Keith Deller, Jelle Klaasen, Andy Fordham, Tony David, John Walton, Les Wallace, Steve Beaton, John Part, Dennis Priestley, Bob Anderson

WORLD MATCHPLAY

  • 16 - Phil Taylor
  • 3 - Michael van Gerwen
  • 2 - Rod Harrington
  • 1 - James Wade, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Larry Butler, Peter Evison, Colin Lloyd, Rob Cross, Nathan Aspinall

WORLD GRAND PRIX

  • 11 - Phil Taylor
  • 6 - Michael van Gerwen
  • 2 - James Wade
  • 1 - Gerwyn Price, Colin Lloyd, Alan Warriner, Daryl Gurney, Robert Thornton, Jonny Clayton, Luke Humphries

GRAND SLAM OF DARTS

  • 6 - Phil Taylor
  • 3 - Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price
  • 1 - Scott Waites, Raymond van Barneveld, Luke Humphries, Michael Smith, José de Sousa

UK OPEN

  • 5 - Phil Taylor
  • 3 - Michael van Gerwen, James Wade
  • 2 - Raymond van Barneveld
  • 1 - Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Andrew Gilding, Adrian Lewis, Danny Noppert, Roland Scholten, Robert Thornton

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

  • 4 - Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor
  • 2 - Rob Cross, Peter Wright
  • 1 - Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, James Wade, Ross Smith

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

  • 7 - Michael van Gerwen
  • 3 - Phil Taylor
  • 1 - Gary Anderson, Kevin Painter, Paul Nicholson, Daryl Gurney, Peter Wright, Luke Humphries

BIG UNRANKED MAJORS

PREMIER LEAGUE

  • 7 - Michael van Gerwen
  • 6 - Phil Taylor
  • 2 - Gary Anderson
  • 1 - James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld, Glen Durrant, Jonny Clayton, Luke Littler

MASTERS

5 - Michael van Gerwen

1 - Phil Taylor, James Wade, Peter Wright,Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey, Stephen Bunting

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