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 Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.[1]
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.
Players ranked 1 - 32 | |||
Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Luke Humphries | £1,541,000 | |
2 | Michael van Gerwen | £1,094,500 | |
3 | Michael Smith | £1,065,750 | |
4 | Nathan Aspinall | £627,000 | |
5 | Gerwyn Price | £610,750 | |
6 | Rob Cross | £596,250 | |
7 | Dave Chisnall | £499,750 | |
8 | Peter Wright | £492,500 | |
9 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | £491,500 | |
10 | Damon Heta | £486,250 | |
11 | Jonny Clayton | £481,250 | |
12 | Danny Noppert | £457,500 | |
13 | 1 | Chris Dobey | £421,750 |
14 | 1 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | £420,250 |
15 | 1 | Ross Smith | £412,250 |
16 | 1 | Joe Cullen | £408,250 |
17 | Stephen Bunting | £396,750 | |
18 | Andrew Gilding | £357,250 | |
19 | 1 | Josh Rock | £347,500 |
19 | Ryan Searle | £347,500 | |
21 | 3 | Gary Anderson | £331,750 |
22 | 1 | James Wade | £331,000 |
23 | 1 | Martin Schindler | £322,500 |
24 | 1 | Gabriel Clemens | £320,750 |
25 | Krzysztof Ratajski | £287,500 | |
26 | Luke Littler | £273,500 | |
27 | Daryl Gurney | £269,500 | |
28 | Brendan Dolan | £267,000 | |
29 | José de Sousa | £256,250 | |
30 | Raymond van Barneveld | £248,500 | |
31 | Scott Williams | £206,750 | |
32 | Ricardo Pietreczko | £179,500 | |
*Change since 14 April 2024. |
Players ranked 33 - 64 | |||
Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
---|---|---|---|
33 | 1 | Kim Huybrechts | £170,750 |
34 | 1 | Callan Rydz | £169,250 |
35 | 1 | Luke Woodhouse | £166,000 |
36 | 3 | Martin Lukeman | £163,500 |
37 | Madars Razma | £157,250 | |
38 | Gian van Veen | £156,500 | |
39 | Ryan Joyce | £155,250 | |
40 | Mike De Decker | £147,500 | |
41 | Ricky Evans | £127,750 | |
42 | Jim Williams | £124,750 | |
43 | Jermaine Wattimena | £122,750 | |
44 | Alan Soutar | £119,500 | |
45 | Simon Whitlock | £113,500 | |
46 | Rowby-John Rodriguez | £111,000 | |
47 | William O'Connor | £110,500 | |
48 | Steve Beaton | £108,250 | |
49 | 1 | Cameron Menzies | £104,000 |
50 | 1 | Keane Barry | £103,750 |
51 | 1 | Mickey Mansell | £100,500 |
52 | 1 | Matt Campbell | £99,000 |
53 | Ritchie Edhouse | £98,000 | |
54 | 1 | Kevin Doets | £89,500 |
55 | 1 | Boris Krčmar | £88,750 |
56 | Vincent van der Voort | £87,750 | |
57 | Ryan Meikle | £85,750 | |
57 | 1 | Jamie Hughes | £85,750 |
57 | 1 | Florian Hempel | £85,750 |
60 | Richard Veenstra | £85,000 | |
61 | Mensur Suljović | £84,500 | |
62 | Adrian Lewis | £82,500 | |
63 | Mervyn King | £81,500 | |
64 | 1 | Ian White | £81,250 |
*Change since 14 April 2024. |
Players ranked 65th or lower | |||
Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
---|---|---|---|
65 | 1 | Adam Gawlas | £79,250 |
66 | Niels Zonneveld | £65,500 | |
67 | Lee Evans | £54,250 | |
68 | Dylan Slevin | £52,000 | |
69 | Jeffrey de Zwaan | £37,000 | |
70 | Maik Kuivenhoven | £36,250 | |
71 | Keegan Brown | £35,750 | |
72 | Stephen Burton | £35,500 | |
73 | Daniel Klose | £33,250 | |
74 | Karel Sedláček | £33,000 | |
75 | Arron Monk | £28,500 | |
76 | 1 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | £27,000 |
77 | 1 | Robert Owen | £26,000 |
78 | Pascal Rupprecht | £24,000 | |
79 | Graham Usher | £23,250 | |
80 | Nick Kenny | £22,750 | |
80 | Jurjen van der Velde | £22,750 | |
82 | Graham Hall | £21,000 | |
83 | Adam Smith-Neale | £18,750 | |
84 | Josh Payne | £18,000 | |
85 | Geert Nentjes | £17,000 | |
86 | Ronny Huybrechts | £16,750 | |
87 | Owen Roelofs | £15,500 | |
88 | Danny van Trijp | £14,000 | |
89 | Robbie Knops | £13,250 | |
90 | James Hurrell | £12,750 | |
91 | Berry van Peer | £12,500 | |
92 | 3 | Christian Perez | £12,000 |
93 | 1 | Steve Lennon | £11,000 |
93 | 1 | Adam Warner | £11,000 |
95 | 1 | Chris Landman | £9,750 |
96 | 1 | Thibault Tricole | £9,500 |
97 | Callum Goffin | £8,750 | |
98 | Leighton Bennett | £8,500 | |
99 | Brett Claydon | £8,000 | |
100 | Lukas Wenig | £7,750 | |
101 | Dom Taylor | £7,500 | |
101 | Danny Lauby | £7,500 | |
103 | Andy Baetens | £7,000 | |
103 | Benjamin Drue Reus | £7,000 | |
103 | Danny Jansen | £7,000 | |
106 | Radek Szagański | £6,500 | |
106 | Patrick Geeraets | £6,500 | |
106 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | £6,500 | |
109 | Jacques Labre | £6,250 | |
110 | Wessel Nijman | £6,000 | |
111 | Stefan Bellmont | £5,500 | |
111 | Joshua Richardson | £5,500 | |
111 | Matthew Dennant | £5,500 | |
114 | Jelle Klaasen | £5,000 | |
115 | George Killington | £4,500 | |
115 | Rhys Griffin | £4,500 | |
115 | Connor Scutt | £4,500 | |
115 | Oskar Lukasiak | £4,500 | |
115 | Paul Krohne | £4,500 | |
120 | Owen Bates | £4,250 | |
121 | Darren Beveridge | £4,000 | |
121 | William Borland | £4,000 | |
121 | Michele Turetta | £4,000 | |
121 | John Henderson | £4,000 | |
125 | Michael Unterbuchner | £3,750 | |
126 | Robert Grundy | £3,500 | |
126 | 9 | Romeo Grbavac | £3,500 |
126 | Nathan Rafferty | £3,500 | |
126 | Tim Wolters | £3,500 | |
126 | Adam Hunt | £3,500 | |
131 | Johan Engström | £2,500 | |
131 | 11 | Franz Rötzsch | £2,500 |
131 | 1 | Wesley Plaisier | £2,500 |
131 | 1 | Andreas Harrysson | £2,500 |
131 | 1 | Leonard Gates | £2,500 |
131 | 1 | Scott Mitchell | £2,500 |
131 | 1 | Haupai Puha | £2,500 |
138 | 3 | Jitse Van der Wal | £2,250 |
139 | 2 | Jeffrey de Graaf | £2,000 |
139 | 2 | Thomas Lovely | £2,000 |
141 | 2 | Jarred Cole | £1,500 |
141 | 2 | Joe Croft | £1,500 |
141 | 2 | Michael Taylor | £1,500 |
144 | Arno Merk | £1,250 | |
144 | Niko Springer | £1,250 | |
144 | René Eidams | £1,250 | |
144 | 2 | Alexander Mašek | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Cor Dekker | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Jan Dueckers | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Kai Gotthardt | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Patrick Klingelhöfer | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Matthias Ehlers | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Oliver Mueller | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Viktor Tingström | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Vítězslav Sedlák | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Born Van Put | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Geert De Vos | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Jeroen Caron | £1,250 |
144 | 2 | Steven Strobbe | £1,250 |
160 | 4 | Aden Kirk | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Bradley Brooks | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Harry Lane | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Jack Male | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Jenson Walker | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Johnny Haines | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Ron Meulenkamp | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Tom Lonsdale | £1,000 |
160 | 4 | Jules van Dongen | £1,000 |
*Change since 14 April 2024. |
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:
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.
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 |
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]
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 |
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]
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.
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 |
|
Michael van Gerwen | 7 |
|
Alan Warriner | 6 |
|
Rod Harrington | 5 |
|
Colin Lloyd | 3 |
|
Dennis Priestley | 2 |
|
Peter Manley | 2 |
|
Gerwyn Price | 2 |
|
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 |
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 | 109 days |
Before January 2007 | Used old points system |
Current | Reigning number one on Order of Merit |
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 |