PDC Order of Merit
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 Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.
How it works
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 32 Order of Merit
PDC Order of Merit as of 7 October 2018, following the World Grand Prix.[1]
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PDC ProTour Order of Merit
The ProTour Order of Merit counts prize money won in Players Championship events, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events over a 12-month period. Players are seeded based on the ProTour Order of Merit to all Player Championship and European Tour events. It also is a main way to qualify to the major TV tournaments.
- The top 16 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Grand Prix.
- The top 16 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Matchplay.
- The top 32 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Championship.
Besides ProTour Order of Merit there is also the Players Championship Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit. Both of these are based solely on the prize money won in that year's Players Championship or European Tour events respectively. The top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit after the last Player Championship event are the only qualifiers to the Players Championship Finals. The top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit after the last European Tour event are the only qualifiers to the European Championship.
Player exemptions
The PDC rankings determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions from each major event:
- The top 16 in early July get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Matchplay (as a seeded player).
- The top 16 in late September get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Grand Prix (top-8 as seeded players).
- The top 32 in early December get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Championship (as a seeded player).
- The top 4 after the World Championship get an automatic entry to the Premier League.
Televised Ranking Tournaments
There is often a lot of confusion with televised tournaments and knowing which ones count towards the PDC Order of Merit. While a lot of televised tournaments are ranked, some are not, usually due to the tournament in question having restricted places e.g. Premier League.
Ranked Tournaments
European Tour (Ranked)
Un-ranked Tournaments
World Series of Darts (Un-ranked)
Pairs Tournaments (Un-ranked)
Note: Flags are of the nation in which the 2018 event is held.
Previous world ranking system
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 separate 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
| Player | Year(s) in which player stood #1 |
|---|---|
|
1996, 2000, 2002-2004, 2009-2013 (13) |
|
1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 (6) |
|
1995, 1996, 1998–2000 (5) |
|
2014–present (5) |
|
2005–2007 (3) |
|
1994, 1995 (2) |
|
2000, 2001 (2) |
|
2008 (1) |
 |
2003 (1) |
Periods
| No. | Nationality | Player(s) | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Alan Warriner | January 1993 | November 1994 |
| 2 | | Dennis Priestley | November 1994 | April 1995 |
| 3 | | Rod Harrington | April 1995 | August 1996 |
| 4 | | Phil Taylor | August 1996 | September 1996 |
| Alan Warriner (2) | September 1996 | August 1998 | |
| Rod Harrington (2) | August 1998 | August 2000 | |
| Phil Taylor (2) | August 2000 | September 2000 | |
| 5 | | Peter Manley | September 2000 | October 2001 |
| Alan Warriner (3) | October 2001 | January 2002 | |
| Alan Warriner (4) and Phil Taylor (3) | January 2002 | February 2002 | |
| Alan Warriner (5) | February 2002 | May 2002 | |
| Phil Taylor (4) | May 2002 | January 2003 | |
| 6 | | John Part | January 2003 | July 2003 |
| Phil Taylor (5) | July 2003 | February 2005 | |
| 7 | | Colin Lloyd | February 2005 | March 2006 |
| Phil Taylor (6) | March 2006 | May 2006 | |
| Colin Lloyd (2) | May 2006 | January 2007 | |
| Phil Taylor (7) | January 2007 | January 2008 | |
| 8 | | Raymond van Barneveld | January 2008 | June 2008 |
| Phil Taylor (8) | June 2008 | January 2014 | |
| 9 | | Michael van Gerwen | January 2014 | Present |
- Key
| Current number-one player | |
| Used old points system |
Post World Championship number ones
| Year | Nationality | Player(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | | Alan Warriner (1) |
| 1995 | | Dennis Priestley (2) |
| 1996 | | Rod Harrington (3) |
| 1997 | | Alan Warriner |
| 1998 | | Alan Warriner |
| 1999 | | Rod Harrington |
| 2000 | | Rod Harrington |
| 2001 | | Peter Manley |
| 2002 | | Alan Warriner and Phil Taylor (4) |
| 2003 | | John Part (5) |
| 2004 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2005 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2006 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2007 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2008 | | Raymond van Barneveld (6) |
| 2009 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2010 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2011 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2012 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2013 | | Phil Taylor |
| 2014 | | Michael van Gerwen (7) |
| 2015 | | Michael van Gerwen |
| 2016 | | Michael van Gerwen |
| 2017 | | Michael van Gerwen |
| 2018 | | Michael van Gerwen |
First WDC/PDC rankings
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.
| Ranking | Player | Ranking | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
16 | | |
| 2 | |
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| 3 | |
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| 4 | |
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| 9 | |
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| 11 | |
26 | | |
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See also
References
- ↑ "PDC Order of Merit". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ↑ "2015 Grand Slam of Darts becomes a ranked tournament". PDC. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Masters held in Milton Keynes". PDC. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ↑ "Champions League of Darts: BBC to broadcast inaugural tournament". BBC. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ↑ "List of Former World Number Ones". PDPA. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
External links
Top 20 PDC darts players in Order of Merit (as of 7 October 2018) | |
|---|---|
