2026 PDC Challenge Tour series
The 2026 PDC Challenge Tour, known as the Winmau Challenge Tour for sponsorship reasons, is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). A secondary tour to the 2026 PDC Pro Tour, it consists of 24 tournaments, held over four weekends of five events and one weekend of four events. The Challenge Tour, sponsored by Winmau, is the PDC's second-tier system for players who competed at the 2026 Qualifying Schools (Q-School) but did not win a PDC Tour Card.[1]
Order of Merit
Under PDC Order of Merit Rule 4.2, the Challenge Tour Order of Merit rankings are used to determine reserve players for Players Championship events up to 128 entries, when any of the 2026 Tour Card holders are not present.[2]
Under PDC Order of Merit Rule 6.9, the 2026 Challenge Tour prizes are as follows:[2]
- The top two players on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who have not obtained a PDC Tour Card via another method, win a two-year Tour Card for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
- The top three players on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who had not qualified via another method, qualified for places at the 2027 PDC World Championship.
- The highest ranked player on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit receives a spot at the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts.
- The players in the top 16 of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who have not obtained a PDC Tour Card before 2027 Q-School, are granted free entry to the final stage of Q–School.
- The eight highest ranked players from the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who do not earn a Tour Card for the 2027 season, qualified for the first round of the 2027 UK Open.
| Rank | Player | Prize money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Joe Hunt |
£6,450 |
| 2 |  Martijn Dragt |
£4,100 |
| 3 | Jack Tweddell |
£3,350 |
| 4 |  Steve Lennon |
£3,200 |
| 5 | Tommy Morris |
£3,200 |
| 6 | Tommy Lishman |
£3,200 |
| 7 |  Derek Coulson |
£2,350 |
| 8 | Scott Waites |
£2,100 |
| 9 |  José Justicia |
£2,100 |
| 10 | Arron Monk |
£2,000 |
| 11 | Henry Coates |
£1,600 |
| 12 | Jenson Walker |
£1,500 |
| 13 | Jamie Kay |
£1,450 |
| 14 | Lewis Pride |
£1,350 |
| 15 | Christopher Wickenden |
£1,300 |
| 16 |  Danny Trueman |
£1,200 |
January
Challenge Tour 1
Challenge Tour 1 was contested on 16 January 2026 at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. The tournament was won by Tommy Lishman, who defeated Tommy Morris 5–2 in the final.[4]
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 9 legs) | Final (best of 9 legs) | ||||||||||||
| Nathan Potter 89.10
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Derek Coulson 93.98
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Derek Coulson 93.61
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Morris 90.72
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jenson Walker 80.26
| 0 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Morris 107.36
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Morris 98.52
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Lishman 99.12
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Lewis Pride 91.73
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jack Aldridge 90.86
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Lewis Pride 88.10
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Lishman 92.41
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Luke Smith 80.39
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Lishman 92.18
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Challenge Tour 2
Challenge Tour 2 was contested on 16 January 2026 at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. The tournament was won by Joe Hunt, who defeated José Justicia 5–2 in the final.[4]
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 9 legs) | Final (best of 9 legs) | ||||||||||||
| Christopher Wickenden 90.64
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Dylan Dowling 80.33
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Dylan Dowling 81.63
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 94.29
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 93.75
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jenson Walker 90.92
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 99.49
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| José Justicia 90.20
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| José Justicia 79.59
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jamie Kay 87.70
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| José Justicia 88.44
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Martijn Dragt 85.51
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Scott Campbell 88.77
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Martijn Dragt 101.80
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Challenge Tour 3
Challenge Tour 3 was contested on 17 January 2026 at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. The tournament was won by Joe Hunt, who defeated Arron Monk 5–2 in the final.[5]
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 9 legs) | Final (best of 9 legs) | ||||||||||||
| Daniel Ayres 86.18
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Derek Coulson 82.73
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Derek Coulson 84.64
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Arron Monk 83.73
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Arron Monk 76.58
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Ryan Branley 76.57
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Arron Monk 80.40
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 88.04
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Alan Norris 88.90
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Cayden Smith 81.00
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Alan Norris 82.63
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 89.92
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Beaton 87.16
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Hunt 85.10
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Challenge Tour 4
Challenge Tour 4 was contested on 17 January 2026 at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. The tournament was won by Martijn Dragt, who defeated Scott Waites 5–3 in the final.[5]
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 9 legs) | Final (best of 9 legs) | ||||||||||||
| Steve Lennon 93.94
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Daniel Smith 65.08
| 0 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Lennon 80.51
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Martijn Dragt 82.46
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Gary Jackson 93.64
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Martijn Dragt 94.29
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Martijn Dragt 88.23
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Scott Waites 88.38
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Scott Waites 96.16
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Danny Trueman 84.14
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Scott Waites 91.31
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Simon Stevenson 87.53
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Keenan Thomas 87.69
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Simon Stevenson 93.94
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Challenge Tour 5
Challenge Tour 5 was contested on 18 January 2026 at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. The tournament was won by Jack Tweddell, who defeated Steve Lennon 5–1 in the final.[6]
| Quarter-finals (best of 9 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 9 legs) | Final (best of 9 legs) | ||||||||||||
| Steve Hine 79.25
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Jack Tweddell 82.77
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jack Tweddell 88.51
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jimmy Bristow 87.30
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Jimmy Bristow 73.40
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Ashley Coleman 75.13
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Jack Tweddell 85.68
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Lennon 84.06
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Morris 82.45
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| Henry Coates 87.95
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Henry Coates 88.09
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Lennon 94.68
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Graham Hall 82.20
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Lennon 84.57
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Remaining schedule
| Tour No.(s) | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 6–7 | 27 March | Mattioli Arena, Leicester |
| 8–9 | 28 March | |
| 10 | 29 March | |
| 11–12 | 1 May | Halle 39, Hildesheim |
| 13–14 | 2 May | |
| 15 | 3 May | |
| 16–17 | 14 August | Arena MK, Milton Keynes |
| 18–19 | 15 August | |
| 20 | 16 August | |
| 21–22 | 26 September | Robin Park Leisure Centre, Wigan |
| 23–24 | 27 September |
References
- ^ "Winmau Challenge Tour". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ a b "2026 PDC Rankings Rules, as of December 31 2025". PDC.
- ^ "Challenge Tour Order of Merit 2026". DartsRankings.
- ^ a b Simpson, Will (16 January 2026). "Lishman and Hunt claim opening 2026 Challenge Tour titles". PDC. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
- ^ a b Simpson, Will (17 January 2026). "Hunt claims consecutive Challenge Tour titles as Dragt records maiden win". PDC. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (18 January 2026). "Tweddell doubles Winmau Challenge Tour title tally in MK". PDC. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
- ^ "Tournament Calendar | PDC". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 23 January 2026.