The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.[1]

How it works edit

The Order of Merit is similar to that employed in golf's European Tour. Prize money won during the previous two seasons is calculated and the rankings are determined from this money list. The Professional Darts Corporation adopted an Order of Merit system in 2007, which is based on prize money won over two years for the main Order of Merit and separate one-year rankings for other PDC Pro Tour events.

PDC Top 64 Order of Merit edit

Click "show" to view players ranked inside the top 32
PDC Order of Merit as of 26 May 2024.[2]
Players ranked 1 - 32
Rank Change Player Earnings
1     Luke Humphries £1,496,500
2   1   Michael van Gerwen £1,057,000
3   1   Michael Smith £1,034,250
4   2   Gerwyn Price £613,750
5   1   Nathan Aspinall £612,750
6   1   Rob Cross £599,250
7     Dave Chisnall £499,000
8   2   Jonny Clayton £491,250
9   2   Peter Wright £488,500
10   1   Dimitri Van den Bergh £484,250
11   2   Damon Heta £475,250
12     Danny Noppert £455,000
13     Chris Dobey £426,750
14     Ross Smith £414,750
15     Joe Cullen £414,250
16     Stephen Bunting £405,750
17     Dirk van Duijvenbode £401,750
18   2   Josh Rock £371,500
19   1   Andrew Gilding £356,000
20   1   Ryan Searle £345,500
21     Gary Anderson £334,250
22     James Wade £327,500
23     Martin Schindler £325,500
24     Gabriel Clemens £315,500
25     Luke Littler £303,500
26     Krzysztof Ratajski £292,500
27     Brendan Dolan £279,250
28     Daryl Gurney £276,250
29     Raymond van Barneveld £255,250
30     José de Sousa £245,250
31     Scott Williams £209,000
32     Ricardo Pietreczko £183,000
*Change since 23rd May 2024
PDC Order of Merit as of 26 May 2024.[2]
Players ranked 33 - 64
Rank Change Player Earnings
33     Luke Woodhouse £175,000
34   1   Gian van Veen £174,000
35     Kim Huybrechts £167,750
36     Madars Razma £162,500
37     Ryan Joyce £161,500
38   1   Martin Lukeman £158,500
39   1   Callan Rydz £154,250
40     Mike De Decker £153,500
41     Jermaine Wattimena £126,250
42     Jim Williams £122,500
43     Ricky Evans £120,500
44     Alan Soutar £116,750
45   1   William O'Connor £113,250
46   2   Ritchie Edhouse £109,250
46   1   Steve Beaton £109,250
46   1   Simon Whitlock £109,250
49   2   Cameron Menzies £104,500
50   1   Keane Barry £103,000
51   1   Matt Campbell £98,750
52   2   Rowby-John Rodriguez £96,250
53     Mickey Mansell £94,750
54     Kevin Doets £94,250
55     Richard Veenstra £91,500
56   1   Mensur Suljović £85,750
57   1   Boris Krčmar £83,750
58     Jamie Hughes £82,750
59   1   Florian Hempel £81,750
60   1   Vincent van der Voort £81,500
61   2   Ian White £80,000
62   3   Ryan Meikle £79,750
63   1   Mervyn King £75,500
63   1   Adrian Lewis £75,500
*Change since 12 May 2024.
Click "show" to view players ranked outside top 64
PDC Order of Merit as of 26 May 2024.[2]
Players ranked 65th or lower
Rank Change Player Earnings
65   1   Niels Zonneveld £71,750
66   1   Adam Gawlas £71,500
67     Lee Evans £55,250
68     Dylan Slevin £52,000
69     Jeffrey de Zwaan £39,500
70     Maik Kuivenhoven £38,750
70     Daniel Klose £38,750
72     Stephen Burton £38,000
73     Karel Sedláček £36,750
73     Keegan Brown £36,750
75     Arron Monk £29,750
76     Jeffrey Sparidaans £28,000
77     Graham Hall £27,250
78     Robert Owen £26,000
79     Pascal Rupprecht £24,000
80     Nick Kenny £23,750
81     Graham Usher £23,250
82     Jurjen van der Velde £22,750
83     Josh Payne £19,000
84     Adam Smith-Neale £18,750
85     Ronny Huybrechts £17,750
86   6   Jeffrey de Graaf £17,500
87   1   Geert Nentjes £17,000
88   1   Owen Roelofs £15,500
89   1   James Hurrell £15,250
90   6   Dom Taylor £15,000
91   2   Thibault Tricole £14,750
92   2   Berry van Peer £14,500
93   2   Danny van Trijp £14,000
94   2   Wessel Nijman £13,500
94   2   Christian Perez £13,500
96   1   Robbie Knops £13,250
97     Adam Warner £12,000
98     Andy Baetens £11,500
99     Steve Lennon £11,000
100     Chris Landman £10,750
101     Leighton Bennett £10,500
102     Patrick Geeraets £10,000
102     Danny Lauby £10,000
104     Lukas Wenig £9,750
104     Callum Goffin £9,750
106     Danny Jansen £9,000
107     Franz Rötzsch £8,500
107     Mario Vandenbogaerde £8,500
109     Benjamin Drue Reus £8,000
109     Brett Claydon £8,000
111     Matthew Dennant £6,750
112     Radek Szagański £6,500
113     Jacques Labre £6,250
114   7   Haupai Puha £6,000
114     Robert Grundy £6,000
114     Jelle Klaasen £6,000
117   1   Darren Beveridge £5,500
117   11   Owen Bates £5,500
117   1   Paul Krohne £5,500
117   1   George Killington £5,500
117   1   Stefan Bellmont £5,500
117   1   Joshua Richardson £5,500
123   2   Romeo Grbavac £4,750
124   1   Nathan Rafferty £4,500
124   1   Adam Hunt £4,500
124   1   Rhys Griffin £4,500
124   1   Connor Scutt £4,500
124   1   Oskar Lukasiak £4,500
129     William Borland £4,000
129     Michele Turetta £4,000
129     John Henderson £4,000
132     Michael Unterbuchner £3,750
133     Tim Wolters £3,500
134     Jitse Van der Wal £3,250
135     Marvin van Velzen £2,500
135     Moreno Blom £2,500
135     Moritz Hilger £2,500
135     Sebastian Białecki £2,500
135     Richie Burnett £2,500
135     Darius Labanauskas £2,500
135     Johan Engström £2,500
135     Wesley Plaisier £2,500
135     Andreas Harrysson £2,500
135     Leonard Gates £2,500
135     Scott Mitchell £2,500
146   2   Jules van Dongen £2,000
146   2   Thomas Lovely £2,000
148   2   Lee Cocks £1,500
148   2   Jarred Cole £1,500
148   2   Joe Croft £1,500
148   2   Michael Taylor £1,500
152     Christian Kist £1,250
152     Damian Mol £1,250
152     Jiri Brejcha £1,250
152     Teemu Harju £1,250
152   2   Christopher Toonders £1,250
152   2   Daniel Larsson £1,250
152   2   Kevin Troppmann £1,250
152   2   Christian Gödl £1,250
152   2   Dominik Haberl £1,250
152   2   Hannes Schnier £1,250
152   2   Zoran Lerchbacher £1,250
152   2   Arno Merk £1,250
152   2   Niko Springer £1,250
152   2   René Eidams £1,250
152   2   Alexander Mašek £1,250
152   2   Cor Dekker £1,250
152   2   Jan Dueckers £1,250
152   2   Kai Gotthardt £1,250
152   2   Patrick Klingelhöfer £1,250
152   2   Matthias Ehlers £1,250
152   2   Oliver Mueller £1,250
152   2   Viktor Tingström £1,250
152   2   Vítězslav Sedlák £1,250
152   2   Born Van Put £1,250
152   2   Geert De Vos £1,250
152   2   Jeroen Caron £1,250
152   2   Steven Strobbe £1,250
179   6   Shane McGuirk £1,000
179   6   Darryl Pilgrim £1,000
179   6   Aden Kirk £1,000
179   6   Bradley Brooks £1,000
179   6   Harry Lane £1,000
179   6   Jack Male £1,000
179   6   Jenson Walker £1,000
179   6   Johnny Haines £1,000
179   6   Ron Meulenkamp £1,000
179   6   Tom Lonsdale £1,000
*Change since 12 May 2024.

Secondary Orders of Merit edit

In addition to the main two-year Order of Merit, the PDC also operates secondary Orders of Merit for their different tours. These include the:

  • ProTour Order of Merit, which counts money earned in Players Championships and European Tour events over a 12-month rolling period. In addition to qualification for televised tournaments, this ranking determines the seedings for Pro Tour events.[3]
  • European Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned in European Tour events during the calendar year. The top 32 on this ranking list comprise the qualifiers for the European Championship, all seeded, at the end of the year.[4]
  • Players Championship Order of Merit, which counts money earned in Player Championship events during the calendar year. The top 64 on this ranking list are the seeded qualifiers to the Players Championship Finals.[5]
  • Challenge Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned on the Challenge Tour (by non Tour Card holders that participated in Q-School) during the calendar year. The top players at the end of the year qualify for the World Championship, UK Open, and receive Tour Cards.[6]
  • Development Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned on the Development Tour (by Tour Card holders and non Tour Card holders alike, aged 16–23) during the calendar year. The top players at the end of the year qualify for the World Championship, UK Open, and receive Tour Cards.[7]
  • Women's Series Order of Merit, which was introduced in 2021 after the first women's series events were introduced in 2020.[8] The tournament series qualifies two women to the Grand Slam, and World Championship.[9]

Player exemptions and seedings edit

The PDC rankings from all orders of merit determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions and seedings for all televised events. Additionally, the orders of merit are used to offer tour cards for the following year.

PDC Order of Merit Exemptions[8]
Tournament Qualifiers (seeds)
By Order of Merit Other
Main PT ET PC CT DT WS
Ranked televised events
World Championship 32 (32) 32 2 2 2 26
UK Open TCH 8 8 16
World Matchplay 16 (16) 16
World Grand Prix 16 (8) 16
European Championship 32 (32)
Grand Slam of Darts 0 (8) 2 2 2 18
Players Championship Finals 64 (64)
PDC Pro Tour
European Tour events 16 16 (16) 16
Players Championship events TCH 0 (32)
Non-ranked televised events
The Masters 24 (24)
Premier League Darts 4 4
Champions League of Darts 8 (8)
Tour Cards 64 2 2 var

Ranking Tournaments edit

The PDC holds a variety of ranked and unranked televised tournaments throughout the year. There are an additional selection of ranked floor and streamed tournaments that comprise the PDC Pro Tour, as well as unranked secondary tours and events such as the Challenge Tour, Development Tour, and event qualifiers. Money earned in all ranking events counts toward the Order of Merit, with none counting from the unranked events.[8]

PDC Ranking Tournaments with Payouts[8]
Tournament Prize money
Total Champion Runner-up Semi-finalists Top 8 Top 16 Top 32 Top 64 Top 96 Top 128
Ranked televised events
  World Championship £2,500,000 £500,000 £200,000 £100,000 £50,000 £35,000 £25,000 £15,000 £7,500
  UK Open £600,000 £110,000 £50,000 £30,000 £15,000 £10,000 £5,000 £2,500 £1,500 £1,000
  World Matchplay £800,000 £200,000 £100,000 £50,000 £30,000 £15,000 £10,000
  World Grand Prix £600,000 £120,000 £60,000 £40,000 £25,000 £15,000 £7,500
  European Championship £600,000 £120,000 £60,000 £40,000 £25,000 £15,000 £7,500
  Grand Slam of Darts[A] £650,000 £150,000 £70,000 £50,000 £25,000 £12,250 £5,000[B]
  Players Championship Finals £600,000 £120,000 £60,000 £30,000 £20,000 £10,000 £6,500 £3,000
PDC Pro Tour[C]
13 European Tour events £175,000 £30,000 £12,000 £8,500 £6,000 £4,000 £2,500[D] £1,250[E]
30 Players Championship events £125,000 £15,000 £10,000 £5,000 £3,500 £2,500 £1,500 £1,000
Total yearly ranking payouts £11,625,000 £2,070,000 £996,000 £1,141,000 £1,432,000 £1,822,000 £2,208,000 £1,636,000 £288,000 £32,000
  1. ^ The Grand Slam pays an additional £3,500 to the 8 group winners.
  2. ^ The Grand Slam pays £8,000 and £5,000 for third and fourth place finishers respectively in the group stage, which comprise the top 32.
  3. ^ The 2020 PDC Pro Tour was reduced to 4 European Tour events and 23 Players Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. ^ The 16 seeded players at a European Tour event do not receive money toward OoM for a top 32 finish.
  5. ^ European Tour events pay out to 48 players (the complete field).

Unranked Tournaments

The PDC operates additional unranked tournaments for tour card holders and occasional qualifiers throughout the year. This includes five televised premier invitational events comprising the Premier League, Champions League of Darts, World Series of Darts Finals, The Masters, and the World Cup of Darts pairs event.[10][11] Although none of these events count toward the Order of Merit, they all award some number of tournament spots based on Order of Merit position. Additionally there are usually five to seven World Series of Darts events scheduled across the globe each year with eight top PDC players seeded over eight local qualifiers.[8]

Secondary Tours and Tournaments

The PDC also offers secondary tours that do not count toward the main Order of Merit, but do each include their own confined orders of merit. The Challenge Tour is open to any players who played at the most recent Q-School but failed to earn a tour card. Throughout the year, the top players on the Challenge Tour OoM are invited to fill openings on the Pro Tour, receive invitations to the World Championship and UK Open, and at the end of the year receive tour cards for the next two years.[8]

The Development Tour is open to players outside of the top 32 on the main Order of Merit who are between the ages of 16 and 23. Similarly to the Challenge Tour, the top players on the Development Tour order of merit receive tour cards and invitations to the UK Open and World Championship. Additionally, 96 players - comprising 16 invitations, tour card holders of the appropriate age, and Development Tour competitors - partake in the World Youth Championship. Although this championship does not count toward any order of merit, there is a £60,000 payout, and the finalists receive tour cards as well as berths in the Grand Slam and World Championship.[8]

Previous world ranking system edit

Under the previous ranking points system, Colin Lloyd was the world number one player in the PDC for most of 2005 and 2006, despite most of the major titles being shared between Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and John Part. Although Lloyd also won two major titles, he often accumulated ranking points in the less prestigious non-televised events, in which Taylor did not always compete. Similarly, Alan Warriner was world number one on four occasions before ever winning his first and only PDC major, the 2001 Grand Prix, while Taylor won eight world championships and a host of other titles during that period.

Previous World Number Ones edit

PDC Ranking Leaders Timeline[12]

13 players have held the position of World Number One since the World Darts Council started new rankings in 1993. Seven different players held the position in the old points system, and seven players have held the position since the PDC switched to the two-year earnings based Order of Merit system in 2007, with Phil Taylor being the only player to have been number one in both eras.

Player # Years in which player stood Number 1
  Phil Taylor 13
  • 1996
  • 2000
  • 2002
  • 2003
  • 2004
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013
  Michael van Gerwen 7
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  Alan Warriner 6
  • 1993
  • 1994
  • 1997
  • 1998
  • 2001
  • 2002
  Rod Harrington 5
  • 1995
  • 1996
  • 1998
  • 1999
  • 2000
  Colin Lloyd 3
  • 2005
  • 2006
  • 2007
  Dennis Priestley 2
  • 1994
  • 1995
  Peter Manley 2
  • 2000
  • 2001
  Gerwyn Price 2
  • 2021
  • 2022
  Raymond van Barneveld 1 2008
  John Part 1 2003
  Peter Wright 1 2022
  Michael Smith 1 2023
  Luke Humphries 1 2024
Italic indicates the player was reigning world champion that year
Bold indicates the player stood number one at the conclusion of that year's world championship

Periods edit

No. Player(s) From Length Ref.
1   Alan Warriner-Little January 1993 Incarnation of the WDC 674 days[A] [12]
2   Dennis Priestley 6 November 1994 1994 Lada UK Masters 155 [12][13]
3   Rod Harrington 10 April 1995 1995 UK Matchplay 479 days[A] [12][13]
4   Phil Taylor August 1996 31 days[A] [12][13]
  Alan Warriner-Little (2) September 1996 699 days[A] [12][13]
  Rod Harrington (2) 1 August 1998 1998 World Matchplay 728 days [12][13]
  Phil Taylor (2) 29 July 2000 2000 World Matchplay 57 days [12][13]
5   Peter Manley 24 September 2000 2000 Windy City Open 399 days [12][13]
  Alan Warriner-Little (3) 28 October 2001 2001 World Grand Prix 69 days [12][13]
  Alan Warriner-Little (4) and Phil Taylor (3) 5 January 2002 2002 World Championship 28 days [12][13]
  Alan Warriner-Little (5) 2 February 2002 2002 Eastbourne Open 88 days[A] [12][13]
  Phil Taylor (4) May 2002 248 days[A] [12][13]
6   John Part 4 January 2003 2003 World Championship 203 days [12][13]
  Phil Taylor (5) 26 July 2003 2003 Bobby Bourn Memorial Trophy 582 days [12][13]
7   Colin Lloyd 27 February 2005 2005 West Tyrone Open 469 days [14][13]
  Phil Taylor (6) 11 June 2006 2006 UK Open 7 days [15][16]
  Colin Lloyd (2) 18 June 2006 2006 Players Championship 3 197 days [16][13]
  Phil Taylor (7) 1 January 2007 2007 World Championship 365 days [12][13]
8   Raymond van Barneveld 1 January 2008 2008 World Championship 159 days [17][13]
  Phil Taylor (8) 8 June 2008 2008 UK Open 2,033 days [17][18]
9   Michael van Gerwen 1 January 2014 2014 World Championship 2,559 days [18][19]
10   Gerwyn Price 3 January 2021 2021 World Championship 427 days [19][20]
11   Peter Wright 6 March 2022 2022 UK Open 140 days [20][21]
  Gerwyn Price (2) 24 July 2022 2022 World Matchplay 77 days [21]
  Peter Wright (2) 9 October 2022 2022 World Grand Prix 21 days [22]
  Gerwyn Price (3) 30 October 2022 2022 European Championship 65 days [22][23]
12   Michael Smith 3 January 2023 2023 World Championship 365 days [23]
13   Luke Humphries 3 January 2024 2024 World Championship 153 days
  1. ^ a b c d e f Uses 1st of month where exact date unknown.
Key
Before January 2007 Used old points system
Current Reigning number one on Order of Merit

First WDC/PDC rankings edit

Following the World Darts Council (now PDC) split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992-94 the WDC drew up its first ranking list in the run-up to its inaugural 1994 World Championship. Mike Gregory and Chris Johns later went back to the BDO set up and Bobby George and many of the non-UK players never competed in the early days of the WDC.[citation needed]

Ranking Player   Ranking Player
1   Alan Warriner 16   Jann Hoffmann
2   Rod Harrington =   Chris Johns
3   Phil Taylor =   Roland Scholten
4   John Lowe 19   Raymond van Barneveld
5   Mike Gregory =   Keith Deller
6   Peter Evison 21   Bobby George
7   Kevin Spiolek 22   Per Skau
=   Dennis Priestley 23   Bernd Hebecker
9   Bob Anderson =   Andree Welge
10   Jocky Wilson =   Pascal Rabau
11   Jamie Harvey 26   Leo Laurens
12   Eric Bristow =   Bert Vlaardingerbroek
13   Cliff Lazarenko =   Tom Kirby
14   Magnus Caris =   Wayne Weening
=   Steve Beaton =   Mauro Levy

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "PDC Rankings". Global Darts. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  3. ^ "ProTour Order of Merit". PDC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  4. ^ "2020 European Tour Order of Merit". PDC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Players Championship Order of Merit". PDC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Challenge Tour Order of Merit". PDC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Development Tour Order of Merit". PDC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "PDC Order of Merit Rules". PDC. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  9. ^ "2023 PDC Women's Series Order of Merit". Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Champions League of Darts: BBC to broadcast inaugural tournament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  11. ^ "2015 Masters held in Milton Keynes". PDC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "List of Former World Number Ones". PDPA. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Darts Database Player Stats". Darts Database. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Lloydy on top of the World". PDC. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Taylor Regains Number One Spot". PDC. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Lloyd Confirmed As Number One". PDC.
  17. ^ a b "Taylor Back on Top". PDC. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. ^ a b Walters, Mike (1 January 2014). "Michael van Gerwen is Ladbrokes PDC World Darts Champion after beating Peter Wright". Mirror. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  19. ^ a b Allen, Dave (4 January 2021). "A number one hit! Price joins exclusive list to top rankings". PDC.
  20. ^ a b "Peter Wright is world number one darts player after Gerwyn Price fails to reach UK Open final". Sporting Life. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  21. ^ a b Gorton, Josh. "Price denies De Sousa in Winter Gardens thriller to seal semi-final spot". PDC. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  22. ^ a b "PRICE REGAINS WORLD NUMBER ONE SPOT, ROSS SMITH INTO TOP 20 AFTER MAIDEN MAJOR WIN IN UPDATED PDC ORDER OF MERIT AFTER EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP". Darts News. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  23. ^ a b "Michael Smith beats Michael van Gerwen to win first world title with 'best leg of darts ever'". ESPN. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.

External links edit