Luke Littler wins at the World Matchplay (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)

When can we say Luke Littler is the greatest darts player of all time ahead of Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen?

Darts

Sat August 22, 2026 · 3M ago

Luke Littler is breaking Phil Taylor's records like they're going out of fashion but what will it take for him to be considered the greatest darts player of all time?

The 19-year-old sensation defended his World Matchplay title in Blackpool to take his tally of PDC majors to 14 since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 World Championship and did so in spectacular fashion.

Littler's obliterated Taylor's record World Matchplay tournament average of 106.32 - which had stood since 2010 - with an astonishing 111.05 thanks to his performances against Nico Springer (109.53), Nathan Aspinall (113.68), Josh Rock (109.57), Dirk van Duijvenbode (110.88) and Gerwyn Price (111.53) while that latter effort was the highest ever in a Winter Gardens final.

And although his 111.05 was fractionally lower than Taylor's highest ever major tournament average of 111.51 from the 2009 European Championship, it's being widely regarded as the greatest display ever given the gravitas of the event and the fact he played 107 legs compared to the Power's 58.

🤯 Luke Littler's average of 111.53 vs Gerwyn Price is the highest ever in a World Matchplay final.

🤯🤯 His tournament average of 111.04 also beats Phil Taylor's record of 106.32 from 2010!

R1: 109.53
R2: 113.68
QF: 109.57
SF: 110.88
F: 111.53pic.twitter.com/BYGATRX3HN
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) July 26, 2026

The boards may well be better quality than those used in Taylor's peak years but the depth in quality of opposition these days is undeniably higher, while the pressure of the rewards and the amount of media scrutiny is also much greater.

So is he the GOAT now?

No, it's too early to place him above Phil Taylor at the moment but we won't have to wait until he has 17 world titles and/or 80 majors before everyone unanimously reaches that conclusion.

That is simply unrealistic and obviously isn't the only barometer we can judge greatness by when comparing different eras.

However, we must not be guilty of recency bias either and give the crown to Littler too early just because he's currently blowing our minds and is so clearly head and shoulders above his competition.

After all, if you drop a peak Taylor - and indeed a peak Michael van Gerwen - into today's world, they would push each other to standards that would defy belief and probably share out all the majors between them for years on end.

We have evidence to prove that the Power kept finding new levels to his game every time a new pretender to his dominance arrived - whether that was Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld or MVG. It would have been no different had Littler arrived in his generation.

Also, imagine a peak Taylor was around with today's boards.

Sadly these fantasy matches will never happen so what fair barometer can we use for a GOAT debate that will surely be as heated as Messi vs Ronaldo or Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic?

The GOAT Categories

MAJOR TOURNAMENT WINNING AVERAGES

Luke Littler now has the record major tournament averages for the World Matchplay AND the Players Championship Finals, having also achieved the latter back in November. Let's have a look at all the average records for the current PDC majors (or 'premier events' if you prefer to call them that) and the PB's of the other two GOAT contenders.

Just to put this list into perspective, no other player outside these greats have ever held a tournament average record (or even come close if truth be told) except Gary Anderson's 104.72 in the 2014 Players Championship Finals. And that was broken by Littler last year!

World Championship

Tournament Average Record: 106.37 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2017
Phil Taylor Best: 104.63 (2010)
Luke Littler Best: 103.98 (2025)

World Matchplay

Tournament Average Record: 111.05 - LUKE LITTLER 2026
Phil Taylor Best: 106.32 (2010)
Michael van Gerwen Best: 102.81 (2025)

Luke Littler's major winning tournament averages

Premier League

Tournament Average Record: 107.48 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2016
Phil Taylor Best: 106.73 (2012)
Luke Littler Best: 102.43 (2025)

Grand Slam of Darts

Tournament Average Record: 105.42 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2015
Luke Littler Best: 105.15 (2024)
Phil Taylor Best: 104.91 (2014)

UK Open

Tournament Average Record: 107.38 - PHIL TAYLOR 2009
Michael van Gerwen Best: 105.57 (2015)
Luke Littler Best: 104.35 (2025)

World Grand Prix * (Double Start)

Tournament Average Record: 99.46 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2016
Phil Taylor Best: 99.23 (2010)
Luke Littler Best: 92.62 (2025)

Players Championship Finals

Tournament Average Record: 105.58 - LUKE LITTLER 2025
Michael van Gerwen Best: 104.21 (2017)
Phil Taylor Best: 103.91 (2012)

Phil Taylor's highest winning major tournament averages

European Championship

Tournament Average Record: 111.54 - PHIL TAYLOR 2009
Michael van Gerwen Best: 105.53 (2016)
Luke Littler Best: Not Yet Won

World Masters

Tournament Average Record: 106.00 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2017
Phil Taylor Best: 105.38 (2013)
Luke Littler Best: 103.58 (2026)

World Series Finals

Tournament Average Record: 105.66 - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 2015
Luke Littler Best: 103.79 (2024)
Phil Taylor Best: Never won

So, to save you working it out, Michael van Gerwen has SIX winning tournament average records - including the most prestigious of them all at the Ally Pally - while Phil Taylor has two - including the highest of all time at the European Championship - and so does Littler.

MVG and Taylor both almost managed tournament averages of 100 at the double start Grand Prix which is a staggering standard that Littler was some way short of during his one and only triumph last year but once he gets more familiar with this format in the coming years then I'm sure he'll also go close or even break that barrier.

As for the Premier League, obviously the format has changed in recent times which means the best efforts of MVG and Taylor came in an era of 16-match regular seasons whereas Littler plays around 30-40 times in the modern campaigns and sometimes three matches per night.

It's up for debate, however, what format is easier to average higher in.

With all this in mind, perhaps we are overlooking just how insane MVG was in his peak years and should be given more respect in the GOAT debate.

If we're not saying Littler needs 16 world titles to challenge Taylor as the GOAT and instead base it on era dominance, title runs and ridiculous tournament averages, then MVG has to be firmly in this discussion until the Nuke takes more of his records.

Unbroken major-winning runs

Luke Littler remains on track to become the first player ever to complete a clean sweep of all the PDC majors in a calendar year, with his remaining targets being the World Series Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals.

However, he has yet to compete in any Players Championship event so far this year and if this trend continues then he won't qualify for November's major in Minehead.

Phil Taylor once lifted all eight major ranked events available to him in 2009 but he was knocked out in the semi-finals of the Premier League that year, thus preventing the full set, while Michael van Gerwen won nine majors in 2016 after an early exit at the World Championship and also missed out in the Champions League of Darts final to Taylor.

The Power still holds the record for most consecutive majors won with nine from 2008-2009 but his record of consecutive ranked majors is 15 from 2008 to 2010. Both of these will certainly be on Littler's radar.

Let's take a look at all their best unbroken runs in a bit more detail:

BEST CONSECUTIVE PDC MAJOR RUN (Ranked & Unranked)

PHIL TAYLOR - 9

US Open (Ranked) - May 2008
Premier League (Unranked) - May 2008
Las Vegas Desert Classic (Ranked) - July 2008
World Matchplay (Ranked) - July 2008
World Grand Prix (Ranked) - October 2008
European Championship (Ranked) - November 2008
Grand Slam of Darts (Unranked) - November 2008
World Championship (Ranked) - January 2009
Players Championship Finals (Ranked) - January 2009

LUKE LITTLER - 7 so far

Grand Slam of Darts (Ranked) - November 2025
Players Championship Finals (Ranked) - November 2025
World Championship (Ranked) - January 2026
World Masters (Ranked) - January 2026
UK Open (Ranked) - March 2026
Premier League (Unranked) - May 2026
World Matchplay (Ranked) - July 2026

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN - 7

World Grand Prix (Ranked) - October 2016
European Championship (Ranked) - October 2016
World Series Finals (Unranked) - November 2016
Grand Slam of Darts (Ranked) - November 2016
Players Championship Finals (Ranked) - November 2016
World Championship (Ranked) - January 2017
Masters (Unranked) - January 2017

So, if you haven't already worked it out, Littler 'just' needs to win the World Series Finals, World Grand Prix and the European Championship to reach 10 successive major titles - a feat that's never been done before.

That alone could be enough evidence to brand the 19-year-old as the GOAT. But what about if we just isolate the ranked major titles and give Littler and even tougher target to aim for...

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

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

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

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.

Sporting Life columnist and darts commentator Paul Nicholson was the man to end Phil Taylor's run of ranked major success back in January 2010 en route to lifting his maiden trophy and he feels Littler would be unanimously the greatest if he reaches that benchmark.

"People always assume Luke Littler has to win 16 world titles to overtake Phil Taylor, but I don't necessarily agree with that. For me, it's about what you achieve against the standard of opposition in front of you and the pressure you're under."

"If Littler won every ranked major through to Taylor's record and then even perhaps the 2028 World Championship, I'd say he's the greatest player the sport has ever seen. I genuinely believe that."

"Think about what that would mean. He'd be winning every ranked major for over two years, against the strongest field we've ever had, while dealing with the scrutiny of social media and the attention that comes with being the biggest name in darts. That would be extraordinary.

"People sometimes forget that greatness isn't always measured by one statistic. Tiger Woods doesn't have more majors than Jack Nicklaus, yet millions still consider him the greatest golfer ever because of the impact he had on the sport. Luke Littler is beginning to have that same kind of effect on darts."

"If he got to the end of the 2028 World Championship having won every ranked major along the way, he'd have four world titles at the age of just 21. That's an incredible thing to even think about. At that point, for me, he's the greatest player ever.

"Do I think Luke will actually do it? No. Winning every ranked major until 2029 sounds ludicrous. That's the logical answer. But if he somehow does manage it, there won't be any debate left for me."