Joe Hunt and Derek Coulson have secured their PDC Tour Cards following the conclusion of the 2026 PDC Challenge Tour season. Hunt topped the final Order of Merit with £20,400 in prize money, while Coulson finished second with £15,500. The top two players on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who had not obtained a PDC Tour Card via another method, won a two-year Tour Card for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
Tommy Morris finished third on the Order of Merit with £12,450 and, along with Hunt and Coulson, qualified for places at the 2027 PDC World Championship. Hunt also qualified for the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts as the highest ranked player on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. The top three players on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who had not qualified via another method, qualified for the 2027 PDC World Championship. Additionally, the players in the top 16 of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who had not obtained a PDC Tour Card before 2027 Qualifying School, were granted free entry to the final stage of Q-School. The eight highest ranked players from the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, who did not earn a Tour Card for the 2026 season, qualified for the first round of the 2026 UK Open.
The final Order of Merit saw Daniel Klose in fourth with £12,250, followed by Archie Self (£9,500), Tommy Lishman (£8,950), Jack Aldridge (£8,150), Jack Tweddell (£8,050), Daniel Ayres (£7,750), and Aden Kirk (£7,450) completing the top ten. Harry Ward (£7,350), Steve Lennon (£7,250), Henry Coates (£7,000), Patrik Williams (£6,600), Nathan Potter (£6,300), Martijn Dragt (£6,150), Christopher Wickenden (£6,000), Ted Evetts (£5,500), Kevin Burness (£5,450), and Scott Waites (£5,350) rounded out the top 20.
The season's final event, Challenge Tour 24, was won by Patrik Williams, who defeated Jack Aldridge 5-3 in the final with a 94.78 average. Williams had overcome Sam Jackson 5-4 in the semi-finals, while Aldridge beat Jamie Kay 5-1. In Challenge Tour 23, Joe Hunt continued his dominance with a 5-1 victory over Jack Tweddell in the final, averaging 99.48. Hunt had previously defeated Harrison Leigh 5-3 in the semi-finals, and Tweddell edged Tommy Morris 5-4. Challenge Tour 22 saw Hunt again victorious, defeating Callum Francis 5-3 in the final. Hunt also won Challenge Tour 14, beating Tommy Morris 5-3, and Challenge Tour 3, overcoming Arron Monk 5-2, and Challenge Tour 2, where he defeated Jose Justicia 5-2.
Other event winners throughout the 24-tournament season included Archie Self (Challenge Tour 21 and 18), Daniel Klose (Challenge Tour 20 and 7), Dylan Slevin (Challenge Tour 19), David Davies (Challenge Tour 17), Derek Coulson (Challenge Tour 16 and 6), Daniel Ayres (Challenge Tour 15), Christopher Wickenden (Challenge Tour 13), Harry Ward (Challenge Tour 12), Levy Frauenfelder (Challenge Tour 11), Nathan Potter (Challenge Tour 10), Florian Preis (Challenge Tour 9), Ted Evetts (Challenge Tour 8), Jack Tweddell (Challenge Tour 5), Martijn Dragt (Challenge Tour 4), and Tommy Lishman (Challenge Tour 1).
The 2026 Challenge Tour consisted of 24 events held across four venues: Arena MK in Milton Keynes, Mattioli Arena in Leicester, Halle 39 in Hildesheim, and Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan. The season ran from 16 January to 27 September 2026, with events typically held in blocks of five over weekends (two on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday), except for the final weekend which featured four events. All matches were played first to five legs. The prize money remained unchanged, with £3,000 for the winner of each tournament, £2,000 for the runner-up, £1,000 for semi-finalists, £750 for quarter-finalists, £350 for last 16 losers, £250 for last 32 losers, and £100 for last 64 losers, resulting in a total payout of £20,000 per event.
The Challenge Tour was not available to watch live, with results available through DartConnect and the Tournament Centre. The field included players who did not secure Tour Cards, such as Fallon Sherrock, John Henderson, Steve Beaton, Jose de Sousa, and Andreas Harrysson, among others. Predictions for the season from DartsNews editors varied: Samuel Gill picked Ted Evetts and Nathan Rafferty; Mats Leering and Lucas Michael both chose Andreas Harrysson and Jamai van den Herik; and Oliver Ried selected Michael Unterbuchner, Darren Beveridge, Steve Lennon, Florian Hempel, and Ted Evetts as contenders.
