Luke Littler's quest of completing a clean sweep of PDC majors in a calendar year were ended at the World Series Finals - but he still has another ridiculous streak to maintain.
All eyes - as usual - were on the teenage sensation in Amsterdam this past weekend as he looked to maintain his hopes of an unprecedented achievement that not even a peak Phil Taylor or Michael van Gerwen were able to accomplish.
Having already collected the World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Matchplay in 2026, he needed to win the World Series Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals to make history.
However, a costly display of doubling saw him crash out at the quarter-final stage to Jonny Clayton, and now he must pick himself up for the World Grand Prix and European Championship next month.
Should he win the latter of those, then he would at least be able to celebrate a career clean sweep of majors at the age of 19, while he's still on course to emulate Taylor's 2009 record of lifting all of the PDC's ranked majors that were available to him at the time; World Championship, UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals & Las Vegas Desert Classic.
Only a shock exit in the 2009 Premier League - which is obviously unranked - prevented his hopes of a complete major clean sweep.
The fact Littler's 2026 targets feel a bit underwhelming right now in the aftermath of Sunday's disappointment speaks volumes at how far he's come in a ridiculously short time - but there is one other milestone on the horizon that really would eclipse what he was trying to do this year.
Back at the old US Open in May 2008, a peak Taylor began an absolutely ridiculous winning streak in the PDC's ranked majors and by January 2010, his 15th career world title took this tally to 15.
His unstoppable run was eventually halted in dramatic fashion by eventual champion Paul Nicholson at the Players Championship Finals later that month and nobody since has got anywhere close.
Michael van Gerwen managed seven ranked majors in a row from the 2016 UK Open to the 2017 World Championship and currently Littler is on six; from the 2025 Grand Slam of Darts right through to the World Matchplay back in July.
In order for Littler to reach 16 successive ranked majors he needs to win the following; 2026 World Grand Prix, 2026 European Championship, 2026 Grand Slam, 2026 Players Championship Finals, 2027 World Championship, 2027 Masters, 2027 UK Open, 2027 World Matchplay, 2027 World Grand Prix and 2027 European Championship.
Just to put his current tally into perspective, no player apart from Taylor or MVG have managed a streak of four or more ranked majors in a row, while Luke Humphries is the only other to string three together when he picked up the 2023 Grand Slam, 2023 Players Championship Finals before beating Littler in the 2024 World Championship final.
Some say Littler might not be motivated to play in the remaining Players Championship events now that the clean sweep has gone, but if his team have told him about Taylor's almighty ranked streak, then surely it'll keep his fires burning for the rest of the season.
BEST CONSECUTIVE PDC RANKED MAJOR RUN
PHIL TAYLOR - 15
- US Open - May 2008
- Las Vegas Desert Classic - July 2008
- World Matchplay - July 2008
- World Grand Prix - October 2008
- European Championship - November 2008
- Grand Slam of Darts - November 2008
- World Championship - January 2009
- Players Championship Finals - January 2009
- UK Open - June 2009
- Las Vegas Desert Classic - July 2009
- World Matchplay - July 2009
- World Grand Prix - October 2009
- European Championship - October 2009
- Grand Slam of Darts - November 2009
- World Championship - January 2010
- Run ended by Paul Nicholson at the Players Championship Finals in January 2010
Luke Littler's hopes of a 2026 clean sweep are over but he can still focus on breaking Phil Taylor's record of 15 successive ranked PDC major titles.
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) September 21, 2026
Littler is currently on six and if he wins all ranked majors up to and including the 2027 European Championship, he'll reach 16. pic.twitter.com/SkprYHX0vi
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN - 7
- UK Open - March 2016
- World Matchplay - July 2016
- World Grand Prix - October 2016
- European Championship - October 2016
- Grand Slam of Darts - November 2016
- Players Championship Finals - November 2016
- World Championship - January 2017
- Run ended when he didn't compete in the 2017 UK Open. His next major appearance at the World Matchplay ended in the quarter-finals to Phil Taylor.
LUKE LITTLER - 6 so far
- Grand Slam of Darts - November 2025
- Players Championship Finals - November 2025
- World Championship - January 2026
- World Masters - January 2026
- UK Open - March 2026
- World Matchplay - July 2026
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